To Live with Darkness
by kmb8
Summary: Sometimes no one around you understands that life isn't in black and white. Sometimes you have to live in the gray, and sometimes you can't help but stray into the dark. When you find someone who understands that, you have to hold on no matter what. SBOC
1. Ridiculously Annoying Twinkle

A/N: Sorry this is a long one right off the bat, with another long one at the end (I promise A/N's will never be this long again) but I wanted to warn people of some things so I don't have to worry about any complaints about things that I won't change anyway. This story will mostly follow along with the books (once it reaches that time period) up until you-know-which part of OotP, because I just had to "fix" **certain** events of it if this story was going to continue, and that messed up HBP, too. I'll just be adding in an element or two or ten here and there. This will start somewhere around Harry's first birthday and continue on from there, but the focus is on Sirius Black and what was going on with him, so don't expect tons of the other characters all the time. After all, Sirius was supposed to be the best looking and most mischievous of the group according to J.K. Rowling herself, so I assume he had to have a life that didn't absolutely revolve around the Marauders and later the Golden Trio. Some things had to be conveniently forgotten for the sake of the story working. If you find it difficult to conveniently forget things then at least you've been warned. Having said that, please don't inform me of every hole in the "real" HP universe, because I **know** (it's fan fiction so it's kind of expected anyway. I'm not J.K. Rowling, after allཀ).

--------------------

**Part One: the Ball and Chain**

-------------------

Chapter One

Sometimes you can just tell when the day will inevitably be bad. There are simple signs to clue you in: your alarm clock not going off (or, God forbid, going off early), stubbing your toe on the way to the bathroom, your hair looking like a 70's reunion rock concert, your shoes inexplicably disappearing from the place where you **know** you left them, and even your breakfast catching on fire are sure signs of an impending bad day. Sirius Black had experienced none of the aforementioned signs that morning.

He had slept in late on purpose since he had nothing planned for the day — only waking up because his conquest from the night before had decided she wanted another go before she got out of bed. When he'd finally stumbled into the bathroom, he had managed to climb into the shower without injuring any of his toes, and his shaggy pitch-black hair fell perfectly into place over his dark gray eyes, as always. He finished dressing — finding both shoes innocently by the door pretending they hadn't considered moving themselves just so they could witness one of Sirius's famous temper tantrums for the third time that week — and walked into the kitchen only to find that the girl wanted to know whether he wanted her to make a late breakfast or an early lunch for him.

Even losing any chance he had of seducing that particular girl back into his bed hadn't put a real damper on the rest of his day. He'd stuttered over her name — Mary, Marie, Marcy, Marcia, Martha...he was **sure** it started with an "m"...or maybe that was the one from the last night. Alright, fine, he didn't remember at all. So sue him. She had completely flown off the handle and yelled something about him using her. Well, really, what did she expect? She had left her seventeenth birthday party, which was being held at a club, to run off and shag a twenty-something-year-old man who had obviously blown off his date to hit on her instead, and she expected flowers, chocolate, and a committed relationship? Instead of ruining his day the situation gave him a good laugh, and laughing was definitely something on the good day list the last time he checked. Of course, what's-her-name hadn't been overly pleased when he laughed, but how good **her** day went was right at the top of Sirius's list of things he would never bother to think about again. All in all, he had been looking forward to a very pleasant day.

--------------------

Sirius was currently aiming a scowl at his former headmaster while wondering just where the hell the day had taken a turn for the worse without his noticing. He would have taken a bad hair day or any number of stubbed toes instead of this. He eyed Dumbledore suspiciously. No headmaster randomly took a notion to invite former students to secret meetings without notice, especially ones as infamous for trouble-making and promiscuity as Sirius Black. And of course nothing was in the old man's eyes to give him away except for that ridiculously annoying twinkle.

Sirius was quite on edge, as one of his worst memories had been sitting here like this with Dumbledore, and had been very unpleasant for him. His whole life he'd been prone to causing extraordinary, and unfortunately sometimes cataclysmic, magical phenomenon: apparating from place to place at will since he was a toddler; transfiguring very nearly anything he wanted from the age of six; casting and upholding impossible numbers of spells, hexes, curses, and charms; and performing complex magic among other things, all without having even had his first wand yet. These occurrences often happened when he was in an extremely heightened emotional state, but was much more controlled than the outbursts experienced by most wizards and witches. Extreme anger, sadness, and frustration seemed to work the best; he'd even learned how to make the bursts of power happen by simply thinking of the emotions.

Finally, it had all come to a boil when he was sixteen. He'd been vacationing with his family in the Alps, and had become so furious at his parents for criticizing his friends and his life in general that he had brought the impressive chateau they were staying in down around their heads. Even now he couldn't say whether it had been intentional or accidental, he supposed it was a mixture of both. After living with James for the rest of the summer, he'd been summoned to Dumbledore's office upon returning for his seventh year at Hogwarts. The talk that followed unsettled him completely. The professors couldn't come to a conclusion about his magical abilities, and had finally started talking about running tests and the like. He'd gotten up and walked out, refusing to go back no matter how many times he was summoned. He would only go now, three years later, because Dumbledore had taken a wizard's oath that he would not be treated like a lab rat to satisfy their curiosity.

Soon enough Sirius got bored waiting for Dumbledore to get to whatever point he had. He began having random objects break around the room, waiting for a house elf to rush forward to clean up the mess, and quickly repairing the damage before any of the poor elves could do anything. He was amused by the way the house elves would stop in their tracks and stare around with their big, creepy eyes looking for whoever the culprit was. Of course, since Sirius didn't have a wand out he was immediately overlooked, which he found even more hilarious.

He quickly returned to scowling when Dumbledore reprimanded him, "Mr. Black, kindly stop teasing my house elves. Your skills with wandless magic are not to be taken so lightly."

"Oh I'm not taking them lightly, **Headmaster**," Sirius was sure to emphasis the man's formal title, "I realize that being able to do wandless magic at will is very rare, especially when you can control it, and I take using the skill to amuse myself very seriously, no contradiction intended, of course."

"Of course," he thought he might have seen a smile tugging at the corners of Dumbledore's mouth, "You may call me Albus, Sirius. You are no longer my student."

After a long silence that might very well have been awkward if Sirius hadn't been too bored to notice it, he finally questioned a bit unkindly, "Did you want something with me, Albus, or was my company enough to please you?"

Dumbledore watched him, and it seemed to Sirius that he was sizing him up for something. Sirius was getting ready to speak again when the old man finally spoke, "It's refreshing to hear someone speak their mind around me. It's really very annoying when grown wizards and witches are too nervous around you to even be able to snap at you properly, you know. But, alas, onto more important matters than an old man's woes...there's an assignment from the Order for you. I expect you are interested?" There was that damned twinkle in the man's eyes again. What the hell did he have to be so happy and amused about all the time anyways? The wizarding world was at war for pity's sakeཀ

Of course they would expect him to be interested. When no one else will do it everyone assumes Sirius Black is the man to turn to. It drove him crazy with rage at times, luckily for the delicate instruments in Dumbledore's office this wasn't one of those times. After all, it had to be good fun if Dumbledore had a hand in it — probably illegal, little chance of success, near certainty of death, that kind of thing...what wouldn't be fun about that?

After becoming aware of the headmaster studying him closely, Sirius replied, "It depends what the assignment is. Judging from the ones you usually pin me with, I'd say I can only take the **really** dangerous and exciting missions, you know." Maybe it was just him, but Sirius could have sworn he saw Dumbledore wince at the barely concealed resentment.

"You only get the jobs you are qualified for, Sirius." When no response came from the younger man, Dumbledore continued, "You have heard of the recent deaths of certain important men, I'm sure?" Sirius's eyes shot up to meet the headmaster's, and after a moment he nodded in affirmation. "The murders were amazingly organized. There are no witnesses, no suspects, and no leads. I want the murderer caught."

Sirius winced inwardly at the mention of murder. "All of the men were death eaters weren't they?" he demanded, narrowing his eyes in challenge.

Dumbledore nodded, "Yes, indeed they were."

"Then why do you want the person who killed them caught? The wizarding world is at warཀ Exterminating a few death eaters who happen to have enough political and economic power to do real damage can't be considered murder in times of war. It isn't considered murder when aurors kill death eaters, or when people die during battle," Sirius said hotly.

Dumbledore kept his calm demeanor as always as he tried to calm the young man in front of him, "No, Sirius, aurors and other people in battle don't commit murder by killing death eaters. I never said I wanted to turn the person in to the ministry, I just want to know who it is. No orders to kill those men came from anyone in charge on our side of the war, and that doesn't sit well with anyone. The entire inheritances from the victims were not left to anyone in their families, but were sent to various unnamed accounts. The money was soon moved and appears to be untraceable. We are afraid that the men are actually being executed by Voldemort so that he can have their entire fortunes in his possession."

It amazed Sirius that anyone could think that Voldemort would do something like that. Sure, he didn't bat an eyelash at the act of murdering even his own followers, but Sirius somehow thought Voldemort wouldn't bother just for their money. The way he saw it, Voldemort didn't need money. If he wanted something he would either threaten, torture, or kill anyone who stood in his way of getting it, and he certainly wouldn't leave payment for anything he took. If for some reason Voldemort did require money, Sirius doubted he would kill a follower who had so much power in the world to get it. He'd probably just have said follower give him the money instead. Yes, Sirius definitely thought that the leaders of the light side were either a little too paranoid or just not using their time to think things through.

He chose to keep his opinions he himself. Even though the headmaster had said he didn't want to turn the person into the Ministry, Sirius didn't trust him enough to tell him that he knew who it was. "So, you want me to find out who's good enough to be killing death eaters without leaving any clues behind? How ever did you people peg me as the type for danger and excitement, anyways?"

--------------------

Half an hour later Sirius was stalking into the Three Broomsticks with another scowl on his face. He was going to get wrinkles if he kept this up. That thought just made his expression even more angry. People at the tables nearest the door looked up from what they were doing to stare at him as he stomped in. He shot them a menacing glare before making his way to the bar.

"Well, look who it isཀ The infamous Sirius Black coming to pay me a visitཀ It's been ages since I last saw you, you know. You should come around more often. What'll it be?" Madam Rosmerta greeted him with enthusiasm he normally would have reciprocated.

Instead he offered her a dry smile, "You know me, Rosie," he used the name that he and James had used since their fourth year at Hogwarts, "I don't give a damn what it is as long as it's unbearably strong and highly intoxicating."

She started searching through her selection of liquor and immediately started chattering away about what had been going on with her since his last visit just before Harry was born. He tried to pay attention, but he was still too preoccupied with his own thoughts of dead death eaters. She set a glass full of purple liquid in front of him. He saw with some trepidation that the contents of the glass were bubbling and hissing while sending off clouds of steam.

He mentally shrugged, and took a gulp of the stuff. It numbed his mouth and made his throat feel like it was on fire. Sirius found that it was rather pleasant. He took another gulp. He made a mental note to ask her what the hell this stuff was once she got finished talking. This stuff really **was** highly intoxicating, he was feeling a tiny bit light-headed already. Sirius had taken several more generous swigs from his glass before he noticed that the woman across the bar from him was quiet. He lowered his glass from his mouth, where he'd been about to take another drink, and looked at her.

After several moments she said teasingly, "Sirius, dear, I asked how you've been?"

Well, at least he knew why she'd been looking at him strangely. "Alright," he said briefly.

"Well, what have you been doing all this time?" she pressed.

"Not much. Babysitting Harry when Lily lets me. Working every now and again," he provided with a shrug.

She smiled and nodded, "Yes, I was so excited when I heard about Harry being born. Why I..." she paused when she noticed that Sirius had stopped listening and had taken another drink. She turned the conversation back onto him, "So what kind of work do you do then?"

He almost answered, but even in his inebriated state the warning signals went off in his head. He didn't need to talk about that. "Just the odd job here and there, nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about," he answered, inadvertently switching on the "charm" as a defense mechanism.

He heard giggling nearby and missed the look that Madam Rosmerta sent him after his answer as he turned to see three pretty women with their heads together sitting further down the bar. One of them whispered something to her friends, as another one giggled again, and the last blushed and turned to look at him. Her eyes widened when she saw that he was watching them, and the blush deepened as she spun back around and whispered something to her still laughing friends. Suddenly the laughing stopped and all three heads turned to look at him. The thought occurred to Sirius that a nice little romp between the sheets would take his mind off death eaters, murders, and that git of a headmaster quite nicely.

He told Rosmerta, whose odd look had turned into frowning at him, to bring three more of whatever the ladies were having because he noticed that they'd been running low since the barmaid was talking to him. Then he got up and sauntered over to them. Once he was standing directly behind the three, he asked, "I don't suppose you have room for one more in your company?" All of them spun to look at him. Apparently they had been studiously ignoring him since he'd caught them talking about him, and hadn't seen him walk up. He repressed the urge to laugh, which was somewhat difficult because of the drinking he'd just been engaging in. Thank Merlin for the Black family's ability to drill nonchalance into his brain.

He arched an eyebrow when none of them said anything, and one finally stuttered something about having plenty of room. He smirked and took a seat, figuring he'd have his way with one of them that night. He was as thankful now as he had been in his schooldays that there were rooms for rent upstairs.

--------------------

A/N: Sorry for long notes and a short chapter (the chapters should get longer). I just wanted to take care of some things that I expect will come up if anyone is reading this. I'll just label everything into sections so you can skip over parts that either don't interest you or don't apply to you. I realize that most of you hate wading through A/N's, which is why I said everything in the first chapter so you can just check this out first and see if any questions or complaints you have are already addressed.

**Plot**

When this story popped into my head, it began right before Sirius escaped from Azkaban. I realized that there was just too much stuff that would be almost unexplainable if I started the story from there. When I tried to start writing it, I ended up in tons and tons of flashbacks trying to explain actions, events, and other elements. I decided that instead of having an elaborate network of flashbacks (since I'm not a big fan of those myself) I would just start over with the time period of this chapter and write everything as an actual part of the story. I said all of that just so you would realize that it's all pretty firm in my mind and that it won't be changing. Please don't write me with suggestions about what should happen, as I already know **exactly** what's going to take place.

**Magic**

I realize that a lot of what has/will be said about what kind of magic people can do is either not backed up or completely proven wrong by J.K. Rowling. I said at the beginning that a lot of things would have to be conveniently forgotten, and I guess that what is possible with magic is one of them. I've just taken a lot of liberties, particularly with Sirius and a character who will be introduced in the next couple of chapters. I figured that, hey, it's magicཀ So even if Hermione happens to read it in a book, or a teacher happens to say it, that doesn't necessarily mean it's concrete. We muggles are constantly changing what we think is possible in science and stuff. I figured that just because the majority of witches and wizards aren't able to do something doesn't make it **impossible**.

**Characterization**

Sirius isn't the happy-go-lucky guy who spends all of his time pulling pranks and getting into trouble with his friends in this story, as you might have already figured out just from this chapter. You'll probably think that his behavior is erratic and without a point at first, but everything will be explained. There is a reason for every way he acts, I promise. For now, let's just establish that he does have extraordinary magical abilities, he uses women, and the big thing would be that he is definitely not like he was when he was younger, but is trying his best to not let anyone, particularly his friends, know that anything is different or wrong.

**Romance**

The first few chapters won't have any of the romance that you're kind of promised in the summary. I couldn't just drop a random OC in at the very beginning. Don't worry, though, once it gets to that point — which will happen before the tenth chapter, that's the only bone I'll be throwing you on the subject — the romance will be pretty much so a constant thing.

**Reviews**

I just wanted to let everyone who reads this know that I'd really appreciate reviews if you like it. Just please **DO NOT** make any predictions in them. If you happen to be correct in whatever you say then everyone else will assume that I took the idea from you. If someone happens to guess something important then it's very likely that I'll just discontinue the story because I don't want people thinking that the whole thing is based on someone else's imagination. If you already said what's going to happen it'll ruin it for everyone else anyways, no matter if there are two or two thousand other readers.

And one **last** thing (I promise), I don't like people sending me huge messages about why they hate anything about a story. If you hate it you don't have to read it. I'm not holding a gun to your head and forcing you to select this story from the thousands upon thousands of other stories, nor am I forcing you to continue reading if you decide you don't like it. Therefore, I really don't think anyone, especially me, should have to spend time rolling our eyes at any flames. If you do decide to be completely ridiculous and spend your own time reading and then writing a review about a story you hate, then it's me (and everyone else with any level of sanity) who will be laughing at you for being so stupid (for the first offence) and immature (for the latter offence).

I hope I haven't scared anyone off of reviewing or made myself into a **TOTAL** bitch. Just keep what I said in mind please, and take into consideration the reasons for my requests.


	2. The Articulate One Strikes Again

A/N: Apparently it wasn't blatantly obvious to some friends I had test reading this, but in my story Madam Rosmerta is good friends with Sirius (and James). In PoA, she knew a lot about them and their group, and even mentioned how the two of them made her laugh and what she thought of Sirius's character. She knew a lot about the two of them in general, but it's proven that she knew a lot about Sirius in specific. I figured she must have had some kind of relationship outside of the barmaid-client one with them, because she's been working there for **at least** somewhere around twenty years if she knew James and Sirius. Working there that long, with every student from third year and up coming regularly (plus other clients), two students with no current claim to fame other than being troublemakers wouldn't stand out from the rest of the crowd if she didn't know them personally. As for her age, I'd like to think she isn't that old. Even if she might be to the Golden Trio, I'd say most teenagers think their parents' age group is old anyways. In my story there is an age difference between the Marauders and Madam Rosmerta (I mean she did have time to open the Three Broomsticks already), but it isn't a large one. Anyways, wizards live a significantly longer time than muggles, so age differences shouldn't be as big of a deal between friends.

--------------------

Chapter Two

Sirius rolled from his position sprawled out on his stomach to lie on his back. His eyes shot open immediately as sunlight hit him right in the face. He groaned as he fully awoke and felt how much his whole body ached. A sigh came from beside him and he shot into a sitting position. Which was a mistake.

"Oh, **_shit_**!" he groaned. He felt like his forehead had been attacked with a muggle jackhammer. He held his head in his hands for a long while, before he remembered the reason he'd sat up in the first place.

He turned his head slowly to look at the person lying in the bed next to him. Who was she, and where **was** he anyway? He untangled himself from the sheets, trying his best not to wake the woman, and practically fell out of bed. As Sirius fumbled around the room, tugging on his trousers and searching for his wand, the girl on the bed mumbled something. He tensed and spun around, wincing as his head throbbed in protest of the fast movement, and let out a sigh of relief when he saw that she was still asleep.

He recognized the room now that he'd taken the time to look at it. The Three Broomsticks, of course, he should have known immediately. Even though he now recalled bits and pieces of the night before he really had no desire to deal with an emotional female right now. And this one was pretty damn emotional from what he could remember from last night. He was too busy fucking up his own life to have to worry about how someone he didn't even know felt.

He was ready to leave after he located the rest of his clothes at various positions around the room. He sighed and brought on magical energy to summon his wand, which he hadn't been able to find. He really didn't need it if he was honest with himself, but he didn't want to draw unwanted attention to that fact. Besides, he **loved** that wand. Only when it was safely in his pocket did he leave the room.

The restaurant downstairs was empty except for Madam Rosmerta, who was cleaning the bar. She looked up when the last stair creaked, and frowned when she saw Sirius. "You owe me forty-seven galleons," she informed him coolly.

He raised an eyebrow, "Gave me the expensive liquor, did you?" he asked humorously, "I guess you couldn't get many other people to pay so much for it. Or risk drinking it for that matter." He dug a bag out of an inner pocket in his robes and laid it on the bar, "There are a hundred there."

Her head snapped up to look at him, "I can't take that much!" she protested vehemently.

"Think of it as monetary compensation for having to put up with me yesterday," he grinned at her, feeling in a much better mood than he'd been in for a while.

She turned her gaze away from him, "Then I'll accept it. I did have to listen to you most of the night."

He frowned. But he'd barely talked to her last night! It took him a few seconds to realize what she meant, "Oh! Um, sorry?" she at least turned to look at him when he said that. "So, most of the night, huh? Too bad I can't remember much of it. It must have been one hell of a good time."

"I can't believe you, Sirius Black!" she yelled, throwing the rag she was using to clean at him. Well, that wasn't the reaction he'd expected. He wondered what was wrong with her, they'd joked around about worse things before. She was yelling again, "You were in such a state last night that you couldn't even hold a decent conversation, and now you're joking around like nothing was ever wrong with you!"

His head tilted to the side as a studied her. Finally, he said, "Don't start thinking that there's something to worry about, Rosie." The last thing he needed was for people to start getting suspicious of him. As much as he liked Rosmerta, she was a horrible gossip.

She let out a sound of frustration, "We were good friends and now you won't even admit when there was something wrong!"

"It's none of your business!" she was inadvertently making his defenses kick in. He spun on his heel and headed for the door, not intending to give her a chance to set him off. If he lost control of his temper around Rosie she would definitely know that he was different.

When he was almost to the door the locks and wards suddenly went up, blocking his way."You **are** going to tell me what's wrong with you before you leave, Sirius!" she informed him.

That was the last straw for Sirius. It didn't matter what kind of good intentions she had behind her actions. She had given him an order, and more significantly, she had attempted to confine him somewhere he didn't want to be. He spun around, and she gasped, her eyes growing wide and her mouth hanging partly opened. His normally lively dark gray eyes had turned so dark she'd dare say that they were black, but what surprised her the most was how cold they were as he glared into her own eyes. Magical energy was crackling around him.

In a split second he was right in front of her. Surprised, she backed up and hit the bar. He leaned down, his face only inches from hers. His eyes looked even more dead this close up. His voice was cold, also, as he spoke low and menacingly, "You should have listened when I told you to forget it. If I wanted to tell you anything I would have done so already. I'm not going to tell you a fucking thing, and you will **not** keep me here or anywhere else."

She hadn't blinked since he'd leaned down closer to her, she just stared at him. She felt the energy emanating off of him in waves, then she felt it flare up. She finally tore her eyes from him as she heard glass shattering. Every glass and bottle in the whole place, it seemed, was in a million pieces on the floor. She also saw that the window panes had shattered. He backed away from her and spun on his heel again, walking determinedly for the door. It flew open as he neared it, allowing him to walk out. He was gone and hadn't even looked back once.

Well if she'd **thought** there was something wrong **before**, she **knew** it **now**. She grabbed her cloak on the way out the door, and headed for the school. She had to talk to Dumbledore. He'd know what to do.

--------------------

Sirius apparated outside of his flat, and quickly let himself in after taking down the various locking charms. He couldn't afford to take down his anti-apparation and many other protection wards. He could never be one hundred percent sure that he'd covered his tracks. So he just stuck with doing things the hard way instead of apparating right inside of his flat.

He felt horrible. Sirius admitted to himself that he'd completely overreacted in the Three Broomsticks. Rosmerta had only been trying to help him, and he knew it. When she'd attempted to contain him, he hadn't been able to stop himself from flying off the handle. He probably should have cleaned up her restaurant at the very least, but he knew he would never apologize for what he'd done regardless of how out of line it'd been. It wouldn't have happened if she'd taken a hint and left him alone. He'd just try to go about his day and forget about it.

As he walked into the kitchen, he glared at the remains of his late breakfast with the girl from the morning before, which was sitting on the kitchen table and accumulating flies. He quickly banished the food and sent a cleaning spell towards the dishes before he directed them into their cupboard. He moved to the pantry and scanned the shelves for something to eat. What was wrong with him that he always bought things that needed to be cooked? Why did he never have good old-fashioned junk food when he wanted it? He walked out of the pantry muttering curses to himself. He figured he might as well go out and eat an early lunch, so he headed for the bathroom to get ready.

As Sirius stepped out of the shower, he stopped to examine his body in the mirror. He would never admit it to anyone, but he was overly self-conscious about a scar on the left side of his abdomen. He'd been run through with a magical sword, and had been lucky to even survive it. If it had struck any organs he wouldn't have survived at all. The healers had been completely dumbfounded about how it had missed his organs in the first place. He suspected that he'd unconsciously used magic to protect himself, but he hadn't told anyone as much. As it was, they could do nothing for scars inflicted by magical blades, so he had an ugly scar. He hated that there was an imperfection on his body.

As his eyes moved away from the scar, he sighed at the rest of himself. He hardly recognized himself anymore. Not that he didn't look amazing, but he just wasn't himself. In school he'd been tanned and healthily fit. Now he was more pale, a side affect of becoming almost nocturnal. He had moved beyond the realm of fit since he had quit auror training to doing the jobs he did now. He often thought to himself that he looked more like a machine than a person. He looked like some sort of pale sculpture carved out of hard marble.

He'd already possessed a few tattoos before he'd been stabbed, but afterwards he'd added a ton more in an attempt to distract his mind from the ugly mark on his stomach. Since then it had become more of a way to personalize his body. He hardly remembered his body becoming the way it was, so he added art to it so he would always have something of his own. He admired the one that could be seen on his chest over his heart in the mirror. That one had hurt like a bitch, but he didn't regret it.

"What the **hell** are you doing in there? I've been waiting for twenty minutes," a voice came from the other side of the bathroom door.

Sirius opened the door, "What are you doing here, Moony?"

Remus was looking him up and down with surprise, "Well, you've done a lot since seventh year."

He'd forgotten that his friend hadn't seem him wearing so little since they were dorm mates. He generally had no reason to take anything off around his friends other than his shirt in the occasional Quidditch match, but Moony hated to fly and never joined them in their games. He looked down at himself. Moony had never seen the majority of these tattoos, and had certainly never seen him in such good shape. He'd always been toned and well-built, sure, but the serious muscles had only been acquired after graduation because he couldn't do what he did if he wasn't in this kind of shape. Well, not without running the risk of being caught because he didn't have any strength or stamina that is.

He shrugged, "Yeah, I have done a lot. So now that you've checked out my body, would you mind telling me what you're doing here?"

Sirius received a glare for the accusation that Remus had been checking him out. Werewolves not having a gender preference was something that Remus was touchy about, he insisted he felt no attraction for other males. "I'm here, Padfoot, because it's a full moon tonight," Moony informed him. The four Marauders always got together the day before the full moon.

Sirius's eyes widened, "Oh! I'm sorry, Moony, I completely forgot."

"Yes, that much was obvious," came the reply.

Sirius sent his friend an apologetic look, "I didn't even realize what day it was. I've had a lot on my mind. Just give me two minutes and I'll be ready." He crossed the hall into his bedroom to get dressed, not caring about his lack of clothing in front of his friend. They'd lived together for seven years, after all.

Remus's exasperated sigh followed him down the hall, "Do you just look for any excuse for people to see you naked?"

"I didn't ask you to check out my ass. You're doing it all on your own," that shut Remus up fairly quickly.

As Sirius closed his bedroom door behind him, Moony spoke again, "You know, Padfoot, Prongs was thinking of going to the Three Broomsticks for lunch. Said he hasn't seen Madam Rosmerta in ages. I think he just wants to brag about his kid to someone whom he hasn't burnt out on the subject yet." Sirius froze in the middle of putting on his shirt, and his vehement reply was muffled by the fabric. "What was that?" Remus inquired quizzically.

Sirius jerked his shirt down, "I don't think that's a good idea. I had a falling out with her, she wouldn't be happy to see me." His reply came out more calmly than he'd expected, since he'd had time to think better of blurting something out. Remus was too smart not to figure out that something was up if he did that.

"You mean with Madam Rosmerta?" Alright, so Moony had his airheaded moments.

Sirius emerged from his bedroom, "No, with a complete stranger down the street."

Remus picked up the sarcasm immediately, "Don't make fun of me! It's the full moon! It throws me off!"

"I thought it made your senses sharper?" Sirius raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"Now your just teasing me on purpose."

Sirius gasped dramatically, "My dear, Moony, I was teasing you on purpose the whole time! You can't honestly think it **wasn't** on purpose in the beginning? What an insult! I'm fatally wounded by your doubt." He clutched a hand over his heart and leaned against the wall.

Remus finally lost his resolve and laughed. "Come on, Sirius, we can tell Prongs and Wormtail all about you pissing off the lovely barmaid when we get there." They headed for the door to walk to an apparation point, Remus being adamant that they followed all the rules.

"You think she's lovely, do you?" Sirius asked, genuinely interested, as they walked down the deserted sidewalk. The two would make a good couple. Rosmerta talked a lot, and Remus listened a lot.

Sirius felt a magical disturbance. He turned and saw the curse heading for them just in time to cast a protective spell over them both. The curse bounced harmlessly off the shield without Remus even noticing. He couldn't see the caster, but knew who was behind it. Sirius cut off Remus in the middle of his stuttered reply about Rosmerta, "You go on, Moony. I just remembered something I need to take care of before I can go." At Remus's cross look, he quickly added, "I'll be there tonight, I promise." He made sure the protective spell was still around his friend, and disapparated without waiting for a reply.

--------------------

Sirius apparated into an isolated alley. Gone was his carefree attitude from just moments before. Without pausing he transfigured his clothes. He was now dressed in fairly tight black clothes. He looked down at himself, he'd always thought that he looked like some sort of ninja. He thought it was ridiculous, but he did admit that it was very good for stealth. The material wasn't one that made noise when he moved. He pulled the hood of his cloak up and looked at the building in front of him: the Patterson Corporation.

He considered the opened windows for a moment, before choosing a room with the lights off on the eleventh floor. It wasn't as close to the top of the building as he would have liked, but it would have to do. Getting up four more stories without being detected might be difficult to do, but was something he could manage with no real trouble. He collected himself, made sure that his mind was completely sealed off, and did a quick weapons check. Satisfied that everything was in order, he transformed himself into a crow. He'd been experimenting a lot with his magic since starting school, and after mastering the animagus transformation he'd decided to see if he could turn himself into more than one animal. Although Padfoot was his true animal form and turning into him was effortless, it was just a matter of strict self discipline to be able to change into anything else.

He flew up to the window, the dark shadows of the alley concealing his small black body perfectly. He landed on the window sill, and after checking that no one was in the room, flew in and transformed back into himself in midair. He landed noiselessly on his feet and headed for the door without hesitating for a second. He used Padfoot's senses, which he'd learned to bring forth without actually going into the complete transformation, to listen through the door. It appeared that no one was on the other side, so he opened the door quietly, and swiftly took in his surroundings.

He was in a narrow hallway lined with dozens of doors. He guessed that this was where all of the unimportant people worked. Knowing that he was unlikely to be caught by any of the office employees during work hours, he walked calmly to the door labeled "Emergency Exit" instead of rushing himself. He took out his wand, which he'd learned was a wonderful aiming device even if he didn't actually need it to cast spells, and burned an enormous hole in the middle of the door. Ensuring that no alarms went off like they would have if he'd simply opened the door.

He looked at his watch, which told him that it was almost time for the group to meet at James's house. If he didn't hurry, Remus would unwittingly lead whoever had been following them right to the entire group. The bastards would just love to take out all of his friends to get to him, not to mention the fact that they were on the death eaters' most wanted list in the first place. He cursed under his breath, and jogged up the remaining stairs to the fifteenth floor. He cast a silencing spell on the emergency alarm before opening the door, not wasting time going through any other way. He didn't care at this point whether all of the alarms on the lower floors went off.

He stunned anyone he met while walking to the double doors at the end of the wide hall. He walked through them calmly, ensuring that they locked behind him. The alarmed man sitting at the enormous desk reached for the panic button.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Sirius informed him coolly. The man didn't listen, of course, so Sirius sent a spell at his hand, crushing the many little bones. The man cried out in pain, and cradled his hand to his chest. "Well I did warn you, Parkinson," Sirius said with fake sympathy before his voice turned hard again, "The next time you go against my warnings you'll lose that hand altogether."

"Who...who a...are you?" the man, who was obviously in pain, stuttered in fright. He recoiled and cried out pitifully as Sirius walked around the desk nearer to him, trying to get as far away as possible. "Don't kill me!" he pleaded.

"Oh stop that, you blubbering idiot. If I wanted to kill you I wouldn't have bothered to walk all the way over here in the first place. I'm not one for close contact with dead bodies," Sirius demanded coldly. "Afraid that I know your real name, Parkinson? They would kill you if the secret got out wouldn't they? They did go through all the trouble of making you an alias. Pity for their idealistic selves that a disgraceful squib was born into their pureblooded family. Then again, the whole family is disgraceful all by themselves, so I don't see why they bothered to hide your existence at all."

The man was reduced to a sobbing mass in his chair now. "What do you want with me?"

Sirius lowered his hood to reveal his identity, the man cried out in disbelief. "You're just a convenient bargaining tool that I'm choosing to take advantage of. Have your brother call off his men, or I'll expose you to the whole fucking world. I'm sure your brother doesn't want anyone finding out about you, especially Voldemort." There was banging at the door, "Your security takes a hell of a long time to get here, don't they? If I was actually interested in killing you they'd be far too late."

Sirius turned around as a group of armed wizards finally burst the door down and spilled into the room. The one nearest to him was quickly killed, and the one behind him followed a split second later. The others looked outraged that their comrades were dead. "It's nothing personal," Sirius informed them apologetically, "but I can't have you ratting me out to anyone." The remaining guards put up little challenge as they were picked off one by one with relative ease.

The last one was trying to escape through the still opened door. As Sirius stepped in front of him, he pleaded, "Please, don't kill me! Put a memory charm on me! I'll do anything!"

Sirius actually felt kind of bad about killing this one, he was young, probably had parents and a girl waiting for him. He only faltered for a split second before making up his mind, "Memory charms can be broken. My own life is more important to me than yours." The man was dead before he had time to beg for mercy again.

With that taken care of, Sirius turned back to his goal, "So, does your brother actually care enough about you that he sent wizard guards, or did they just not realize that they were taking orders from a squib?"

Apparently the man had gained confidence in the short time that Sirius's attention wasn't on him. "You can't expose me, Black! You can't prove anything!" he exclaimed defiantly, ignoring the earlier question.

Sirius growled and stomped around the desk, ignoring the man's increased whimpering. He reached out and yanked a large clump of hair off of the man's head. "I'll just have this tested. A paternity test is proof enough for the press, don't you agree? Now, I've tried simply asking you, but I'm done being nice. Call your brother, **right now**, or I'm going to kill you and just look through your contact lists myself. Then I'll expose the existence of a squib in the Parkinson line anyways just because I'm really brassed off."

The man's resistance broke, and he reached for the telephone on his desk. As Sirius held back his amusement that a Parkinson would be caught dead with a muggle telephone, the man dialed the number quickly, and seemed to be holding in his sobs as he got to the point straight away, "Call your men off Sirius Black." Shouts could be heard from the man on the other line, who wasn't happy at being given orders by his squib brother. "He's here. He knows," the squib in question said shortly. Silence came from the phone, before he hung up. "It's done."

Sirius held in his sigh of relief. He opted for giving one last warning instead, "I don't suppose I have to warn you not to try to come after me. I **will** expose you, and I was serious about you losing that hand if you don't heed my warnings, **Patterson**," he was sure to use the man's alias name so that he would know that Sirius's word about not exposing him if he cooperated was good. He didn't wait for the man to react before disapparating from the office.

--------------------

Sirius had needed a drink or ten after infiltrating a building, threatening a man, and killing a few more. He'd headed to a bar that he knew none of the other Marauders frequented. He didn't want to chance running into his friends at a bar after telling Remus he was attending to business. He often thought that it would make his life so much easier if they knew about things like this. Then he'd remind himself that they would probably be disgusted and refuse to be his friend anyway if they knew. They might even turn him into the Ministry, being the goody-goody type that they were, aside from harmless pranks that is. One thing was for sure, James would tell Lily, he told her everything, and then Sirius would never be allowed to see Harry again. He briefly wondered if godfather status could be revoked.

By the time he made it to Remus's house it was almost dark. Remus lived in a very isolated wooded area with the nearest house being well over twenty miles away. On full moons they would all go there and run with Moony like they had at school. It was one of the few things that Sirius enjoyed anymore. The grand total of things he enjoyed anymore was five: shagging, flying his motorbike, playing with Harry, running as Padfoot, and Quidditch.

James was waiting anxiously in the doorway for him to get there. "Where the hell have you been? It's almost time!" he was getting ready to bite Sirius's head off when he was interrupted by the man in question.

"Well, if I had skived off my responsibilities I doubt there would **be** a time, James. So why don't you get off my back, before I decide you'd be better off dead next time. Or maybe I'd be better off dead so I wouldn't have to listen to you!" Great, he was either crazy or drunk to let that much slip.

James was giving him a shocked looked. "Dead?"

Sirius couldn't help it, he laughed, "The articulate one strikes again." He turned suddenly serious, "Yes, dead. We can probably thank the Order for painting the big blinking targets right on our asses," he chose to let his best friend believe that he'd been on Order business, "It was a thing, I took care of it. Do me a favor and don't bring it up again, yeah?"

Good old James always did know when Sirius was actually serious. "Right...So how about we go meet up with Remus and Peter?"

Sirius nodded and they started walking, "How is Moony? He was acting a bit off earlier today. Checking me out, lacking his normally sharp wit, having a thing for Rosmerta..."

"He has a think for Rosie?...Wait! He was checking **you** out?..." James had obviously lost all ability to be articulate for the night.

"You forgot lacking his normally sharp wit," Sirius pointed out calmly.

James ignored him, he was good at that, "I can't believe he was checking you out! **Why** was he checking you out? He said he isn't gay...Oh my God, you're not gay are you?...What am I saying, of course you're not gay. You've shagged more girls than the rest of us combined and then squared..."

Sirius drew the line at the gay thing, "James! Are you even talking to **me** anymore? Having arguments with yourself out loud is a sign of insanity. And I can't believe you even considered that I might like other guys." After he had his friend's attention, he continued, "In Moony's defense, I had just gotten out of the shower and was about to go get dressed when he barged in. I think he was a bit put off or something. He just stared at me, and of course I gave him shit about it."

James nodded in understanding, and all other discussion was stopped as they reached the edge of the woods where their two friends were waiting.

Hours later, the four were running strong, or rather two of them were. The stag and the rat seemed a bit tired, while the two canines were running circles around them. After a while, the werewolf got bored and tried to persuade the enormous black dog to go with him. He nipped at his companion's heels and barked, periodically growling playfully. With a look towards the other two, the dog consented and took off, the werewolf hot on his heels.

The two canines raced each other through the woods, dodging in and out between trees and yapping in delight. Suddenly, the werewolf stopped in his tracks, causing the dog to come to an abrupt and ungraceful halt and turn to look at his friend. The werewolf howled, and ran away without another look at his companion. Padfoot knew that something was off. Moony never howled because it was a werewolf thing and he wasn't among werewolves so no one else understood him when he did it.

The dog ran after the werewolf, barking to try and get a response from the creature he followed. He suddenly caught a scent that unnerved him so much that he almost stumbled and rolled headfirst into a tree. Instead, he recovered as best as he could and pushed himself faster. He **had** to catch up to Moony. There were humans in the woods.

If dogs could sigh in relief, Padfoot would have certainly done so as he caught up with his friend. It dogs could gasp in horror, he would have done that, too. The werewolf was stalking the edge of a clearing, which Sirius knew by scent held a group of people. He ignored the humans, zeroing in on the werewolf, which seemed to be trying to decide which one to go after primarily. The dog stopped beside him and tried to get his attention, but the only thing the werewolf did was snap at him. Actually snapped at him, not a playful nip, but a warning bite. Apparently, he thought the dog was going to try and take one of his prey.

Padfoot gave that up, and turned his attention to quickly assess the group. He needed to figure out a way to save them before Moony chose his course of action. What he saw when he turned his attention to the humans was almost as horrifying as seeing a werewolf stalking them. There were two men trying to hold down a girl, who was not making it easy for them. A third man was working on ripping away her clothing, while she inflicted as much damage on him as she could. She was screaming curses at all of them the whole time.

Sirius's mind was made up immediately, and he spared only half a second wondering why he didn't think of it sooner. He transformed back into himself, and tied the werewolf up with a spell as soon as he was able to. After glancing to make sure that Moony was secure, he stormed into the clearing and bound up all three men, as well. The girl, whose clothing was ripped and barely covered anything by this point, stood up immediately after she was freed from her captors' grasps.

She ripped a ring off of her right hand and threw it into the forest. As soon as the ring lost contact with her, Sirius was almost knocked off of his feet by the magical energy that radiated off of her. She sent curse after curse at the men who had held her captive, and Sirius had to stop and admire her skill. She used no wand and said no incantations, which was intriguing. He hadn't met anyone else who was able to do that, even Dumbledore had to do one or the other.

A threatening growl from the direction of Moony caused him to snap back to reality, and he tried to get the girl's attention. She paid him no heed, and he was forced bind her, also. He caught her as she overbalanced and fell, then spun around to face the irate werewolf that had just broken out of his bindings. He bound him again and stunned him for added safety before sending red sparks into the air, which was their distress signal.

He knew that Prongs and Wormtail would be there in a matter of minutes, and just hoped that they got there before Moony woke up. Stunning werewolves wasn't very effective. If they didn't get there in time, the three men who were writhing around in fear on the forest floor were definitely going to die. Right now, though, Sirius needed to get this girl out of here. She was freezing, from what he didn't know, since it was the middle of July, and she was covered in lacerations and newly forming bruises. He gave the men one last appraising look, shrugged, and disapparated with the girl in tow.

--------------------

A/N: And boy do I feel like that chapter was scattered between a dozen different things. Sirius's behavior in this chapter will all be explained eventually. You'll just have to read on in the story to find out. So don't freak out because he goes from one extreme to the next without explanation, kills people, threatens people, and practically leaves three people to either die a painful death or become werewolves...and at the same time jokes around, uses constant sarcasm, and let's not forget saves a random girl. I realize exactly what I've written and don't need reminded :) It wouldn't be a story and you'd have no incentive to read on if you knew all of the significant things right in the beginning. I've all but come out and directly told you a main part of the reason for some of those actions anyway, and I expect you to all have figured that part out by now.


	3. Chocolate Kind of Guy

A/N: The point-of-view changes from Sirius to Dumbledore at the end. I'm personally not a fan of changing the point-of-view from the main character(s), but it was necessary. I felt that I had to get across the idea of what other people are thinking about the situation in order to let everyone get the whole extent of why Sirius didn't want anyone to know about his power. That's all that I'll say, since I hope that if you're reading this you're planning on reading the chapter as well.

Oh, and I do realize that some of you don't use feet as a measurement, but you know Americans can't help but Americanize things, so sorry!

Chapter 3

The girl had passed out by the time they'd reached their destination, so Sirius untied her. He was worried about her, her skin was cold to touch. He had apparated on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, right in front of the Hogwarts gates. He started walking for the castle, trying not to rush so he wouldn't jar the girl. He didn't know the extent of her injuries.

For the second time that day, he felt a magical disturbance behind him. He didn't have time to do anything to prevent it since he was cradling an unconscious girl in his arms. Instead, he dove for the ground, using one arm to hold her while he caught himself on the other so he wouldn't crush her. He cast protection charms as soon he could, and rolled onto his back as he sensed someone approaching him.

Death eaters, of course. There were four of them all covered with their cloaks. He assessed them quickly, and noticed that three of them were pretty slight of build. They were probably young enough to be students, except it was summer so that didn't make sense. Either way, he wasn't worried about them figuring out how to take down his shields any time soon. It was the biggest one that he was worried about.

One pointed his wand at Sirius, but paused as he caught the confident glare Sirius was shooting him. Sirius used this to his advantage, not moving from his sprawled out position on the ground as he asked, "Are you too afraid to kill me?" He appeared to be the epitome of bored. In reality, Sirius was a nervous wreck inside, horrified that if more than one of them cast the Killing Curse at the same time that he wouldn't be able to stop all of them. No shield could protect you from the Killing Curse, he just hoped they didn't remember that.

Well, being called a coward certainly pissed the boy off. He immediately cast the Cruciatus Curse at Sirius. It bounced off of an invisible barrier and hit the caster, who fell to the ground screaming. The other three death eaters looked on in horror until their companion dropped his wand a few seconds later and the curse was broken.

One of them finally reacted and began the Killing Curse, "Avada Keda..." He was cut off as he crumpled to the ground. The others stood still in shock. Sirius hoped that they thought it was the barrier that stopped the curse, just as it had done to the Cruciatus Curse. He'd killed the boy himself without using his wand or saying the incantation in the hopes that the other death eaters would get frightened and back off. It was a gamble, because if they all got mad and tried the curse together he would definitely die.

One of them disapparated. Sirius wondered exactly where Voldemort had to look for his recruits in order to find such cowards. The one who'd Crucio'd himself quickly followed his companion, but the only remaining one, the big one, stayed. As far as Sirius could gather from under the death eater's hood, he was glaring right at him.

A glaring contest ensued for several long moments before the death eater spoke, "You killed him." That voice sounded familiar, but Sirius couldn't quite place it.

Thank you, Captain Obvious. Sirius **never **would have come to that conclusion on his own. "Well, yeah," he said calmly. "I couldn't let him kill me first." The death eater didn't move or say anything. "Are you going to do something, or are we going to stay out here all morning?" he inquired. Sure, it wasn't the best idea to provoke a death eater whose friend you had just killed, but Sirius never had been one for propriety.

The death eater began speaking again, and Sirius wondered just where his sense of self preservation was. Anyone in his position would normally disapparate., "I always thought that you'd be too much of a coward to kill someone directly."

Sirius snorted unbecomingly, "Well I'd love to tell you just how wrong you are, but I generally don't converse with pathetic cowering death eaters who hide behind their master, too afraid to even show their support publically until he wins the war."

"You don't know anything, Black!" the death eater spat, his voice laced with hatred.

A wicked grin suddenly appeared on Sirius's face. Ah, so **that's** who it was! He **knew** he recognized that voice! "Normally I'd have killed you by now," he informed the no-longer-mysterious man, "but, I'd much rather you spend your life in Azkaban, **Snivillus**." Snape froze in shock right before he was bound by magical ropes and gagged. As he overbalanced and fell, Sirius continued casually, "I considered stunning you, that'd be much more convenient you know. Then I thought about how much fun it would be for me to watch your reactions to being turned in."

Snape's hood had fallen back when he'd landed hard on the ground, and Sirius could see his eyes widen at those words. Snape struggled against his restraints, while Sirius ignored him and continued, "I always knew that you were a death eater, you see, a doubt never crossed my mind. Everyone told me that I was wrong, but I knew. I'd hoped I'd be the one to catch you. Of course, I always figured I'd be killing you, turning you in was a recent change of heart. No need to thank me for my mercy."

While he was talking, Sirius had been taking down the various protection charms that he'd put up. He finally took the last one down so that he was able to step out of the small circle that had been created. He cast the Locomotor spell on Snape, and turned to the girl still lying on the ground. He was seriously worried now - she should have at least been bothered by being thrown to the ground, having a man land on top of her, and being attacked by death eaters. On the contrary, she hadn't moved at all.

The daylight was growing strong enough for vision to be clear now. The girl was worse than he'd thought. She was freezing, shaking furiously from the cold. Her lips and eyelids were turning seriously blue, and the rest of her skin wasn't far behind. He noticed with some alarm that she seemed dead, but then she took a shallow wheezing breath through her slightly parted lips. He wondered if her hair was always that color - it was paler than the Malfoys' blonde, which he hadn't previously thought was possible - or if it was a side effect from whatever was wrong with her.

Sirius decided that he needed to get her to Madam Pomfrey as soon as he could. He conjured a stretcher, and levitated her gently onto it. He started making his way to the castle with a stretcher floating by his side, making sure that Snape was dragging the ground behind him.

-------------------

Walking from Hogsmeade to the castle dragging two immobile people with him took a lot longer than Sirius thought it would. He burst into the Great Hall just as breakfast was beginning. The teachers generally didn't stay at school during the summer, but members of the Order had decided to stay and make the castle a safe house. Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout had all stayed for the summer. As well as Madam Pomfrey and Hagrid. They all looked up with surprise as Sirius magically blew the doors open, causing them to slam against the walls.

The headmaster looked like he was going to speak, but Sirius beat him to it, "Madam Pomfrey, she needs help." He gestured to the girl on the stretcher that had just floated in behind him and stopped to hover at his side. The mediwitch immediately moved into action.

Sirius launched into the abridged version of the story before anyone else said a word, "I don't know exactly what's wrong with her. She was being attacked by three men and I disarmed them. She had a ring on her right hand that she took off and tossed God knows where, so I don't have that for you to examine. Then she attacked them quite viciously before I was able to stop her, so I'm afraid that she might have hurt herself worse. I was forced to magically bind her so I could get us both out of danger. I apparated into Hogsmeade, but was attacked by four death eaters before I reached the school grounds. I had to dive to the ground, so making sure she wasn't jarred wasn't really on the top list of my priorities. She was only a little better than she is now by the time the encounter was over, and I brought her here."

Madam Pomfrey nodded. All of her questions having been answered by Sirius's story, she enlisted the aid of Professor Flitwick and they headed for the infirmary. All of the other professors were staring at Sirius.

"Oh, I managed to capture one of the death eaters," he stated, "Everyone owes me huge apologies, preferably the kind where I get gifts. I'm a chocolate kind of guy just so everyone knows, feel free to spread the word amongst the whole Order." He summoned Snape to his side and levitated him into an upright position. "I would just like to say that I told you so," he added. All of the Professors looked shocked now. Whether it was from the fact that Snape was a death eater, or from the horrible state he was in Sirius couldn't say. He'd let Snape drag the bumpy, rocky ground the whole way to the castle. He hadn't even picked him up when they'd been going up the stairs or along the stone floor of the Entrance Hall, so Snape was dirty, bleeding, and swollen.

Everyone was very shocked indeed, except for Dumbledore. At least he didn't have that stupid twinkle in his eyes, Sirius might have pulled a muscle restraining himself if he did. "Hagrid, if you will please escort Mr. Snape into the dungeons," he ordered finally. He turned to Sirius, "And a job well done to you, Sirius, for everything you've done tonight. Although, I would like to speak to you in private later. I shall go see to the young lady now."

Sirius was now alone with Professors McGonagall and Sprout. There was a long silence, before Professor McGonagall broke it, adopting her strict tone, "Mr. Black, you look like death. I suggest you sit down and get something nourishing into your body before I stun you and take you to the infirmary."

"I always knew you cared, my dearest Professor McGonagall," Sirius dead panned, but he took a seat nonetheless. She eyed him with her stern gaze, then noticed how he winced when he sat down, and informed him that he wasn't to move while she went to get Wound-Healing Potion.

"Do you think she meant not to move at all, or does she still want me to put something nourishing into my body?" he asked Professor Sprout with a level of gravity that one almost never witnessed on him. She looked at him as if he was crazy. Sirius burst out laughing. Leave it to a teacher to not catch sarcasm, the serious lot they were around here.

--------------------

Sirius had been given a lovely room with a balcony and an impressive view of the lake. He didn't notice this, however. Professor McGonagall had kept him up two more hours healing his wounds and then forcing him to eat. The second he'd entered his room he'd stripped and collapsed into bed.

He woke up sometime in the afternoon because someone was standing over him. He shot up and trapped the person out of reflex. He quickly realized his mistake, since it was Madam Pomfrey. He immediately released her, muttering an apology and running a hand through his hair while he suppressed a yawn. He gave up the fight, yawning while he stretched his hands towards the ceiling.

"Madam Pomfrey?" she was staring at him in that clinical way that mediwitches have. None of the blush remained from when he'd had her trapped against him. Sirius cursed under his breath, of course the seriously overreacting school nurse would be the first one to see him undressed. The sheet had fallen around his waist when he'd shot up, leaving a perfect view of his upper body.

She recovered quickly after realizing that she was, indeed, staring at him. "You're hurt! It looks like you have broken ribs!" she said angrily, "Why didn't you come to the infirmary? I could have tended to you!"

So now she thought he wasn't confident in her abilities? Teachers around here really did take their jobs way too seriously. "I know you could have," he placated the woman, "Professor McGonagall shoved so many Healing Potions down my throat last night that I figured everything was taken care of. I honestly didn't notice that it was my ribs."

"You didn't **notice** that your ribs are broken?" she asked unbelievingly.

"I have an extremely high pain tolerance," he informed her truthfully, "and I just figured any discomfort I had was left over from all the bruising or something. I thought that you'd be busy with the girl. Why aren't you there? She needs you more than me!" He was suddenly angry, though he didn't know why he personally had any reason to be.

"Mr. Black, the girl has woken up. Albus is with her now, but she has consistently refused to say anything at all except to request you," she explained the situation to him.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, his anger fading, "Me?"

"Indeed, Mr. Black," she said coolly, "It seems like she wants to speak to her savior."

He nodded at the woman, "Alright." He started to get out of bed before hearing her gasp and remembering his state of undress. Luckily she hadn't seen anything, **that** would have made him uncomfortable - the school nurse personally knowing what he looked like naked. "Sorry, force of habit after five years. I've never had anyone in my room in the morning who cared," he said. He realized that the statement sounded incredibly wrong, even though he'd really only been talking about his dorm mates, but chose not to explain himself further. He'd observed over the years that the more you tried to explain something the worse it got.

Madam Pomfrey turned away from him, heading out the door. Before leaving she said firmly, "Yes, well, get dressed and come to the hospital wing immediately." She muttered to herself while she was walking out the door.

Sirius shook his head as he got out of bed. He silently thanked the house elves for cleaning his clothes and got dressed. As he was walking to the hospital wing, his mind was working overtime. First and foremost, he was going to figure out what was up with the girl. Note to self, Sirius, get her name so you won't have to refer to her as "the girl". He also needed to avoid Dumbledore if he could, because he would want to know where he found her. No one need ever know that he was in the middle of Moony's woods on a full moon. They'd put two and two together, and that would equal trouble.

There was a horrible ruckus in the infirmary when he walked in. The first thing that assaulted him was Madam Pomfrey's screaming. Sirius was glad that he had returned to his normal senses, if he'd have been using Padfoot's heightened senses he would have a terrible migraine. The stood in the doorway with his eyebrows raised as he took in the scene before him. Dumbledore was trying to calm the girl, who was apparently trying her best to escape from the room. His confusion only increased when he spotted James sprawled out on the floor with Remus hovering over him.

"Albus, do something! She needs to get back in bed!" Madam Pomfrey was yelling. She completely freaked out when all of the potions bottles in the room were broken, "She's destroying my infirmary!"

Sirius figured it was probably a bad idea to stun or restrain the girl, since Dumbledore hadn't done it. Instead he headed for his two friends. "What's going on?" he asked.

Remus's head spun around, and he sighed in relief when he saw Sirius. "You just disappeared last night! I thought I might have done something to you," he said in a rush, then was brought back to the problem at hand when Madam Pomfrey screamed again, "We came here to report you missing and to get healed - the wolf was really pissed off. That girl was having a nightmare or something, and when James woke her up she took one look at him and sent him flying across the room. She almost got out the door before Dumbledore came in."

Sirius groaned. A recent attempted rape victim had just had a nightmare (three guesses about what), only to wake up to a man standing over her. Of course she freaked out. He would have freaked out, too. He made sure the door was sealed shut with a series of complicated spells, before rushing over to where the battle was going on. The girl had resorted to directly attacking the headmaster to try and get past him.

Sirius was floored when he got a good look at her. She looked feral. Her pupils were dilated and she wasn't blinking at all. Her silvery blonde hair, which reached down to her lower back, was flowing around her freely. She looked frightened, like a cornered animal. What shocked Sirius the most, though, was that she looked exactly like he did when he was using a lot of power. He'd caught a glimpse of himself in a full length mirror during a raid once, and had been able to do little else but stare at himself for a long while.

If she was anything like him, things were about to get really dangerous. He stepped in front of Dumbledore. She stared at him warily, seeming to contemplate why he would put himself in danger. When he took a small step towards her, she looked like she was getting ready to curse him, also. He quickly came to a halt and held his hands out in front of him.

Maybe trying to get closer wasn't such a good idea. He sent a Silencing Charm to the other people in the room so they wouldn't interfere and scare her more. He spoke softly, "No one here wants to hurt you. I saved you last night. I wouldn't have done that if I was only going to let you get hurt later." He saw her eyes stray over to James, and quickly added, "He was just trying to wake you up."

She didn't look convinced about James, but nodded her head in acceptance. Sirius noticed that blood was soaking through her clothes over her stomach. He motioned to it, "You're hurt. You should lie back down and let Madam Pomfrey heal you." The healer took a step forward, and the girl backed further into the wall. "No, she doesn't want to be touched," Sirius stopped the mediwitch, who looked taken aback at being refused.

The girl was still pressing herself as far into the wall as possible and watching everyone with fear. Sirius asked gently, "Do you want all of the men to leave?" She shook her head quickly, so he tried something else, "Do you just want everyone to leave you alone?" Again, she shook her head. Sirius asked, "Well, will you tell me what you want?"

She tilted her head to the side and studied him intently, before saying, "I want them to leave." Her voice was quiet, and he could barely hear her.

"Who exactly?" he asked. She gestured around the room, so he clarified, "You want me to stay?" She nodded once. He gave her a reassuring smile before addressing the room, "She wants everyone to leave." He took the Silencing Charm off of them, since he expected them to abide by her wishes.

However, Madam Pomfrey immediately protested, "I'm not leaving my own infirmary! She needs healing!" The healer gestured wildly towards the girl's bloodstained clothes. Sirius had never witnessed the school nurse lose her cool like this.

The girl's eyes narrowed dangerously, and Sirius made up his mind immediately, "Would you be comfortable going somewhere with me?" She headed for the door in answer. He rushed to take all of the Locking Spells off of the door so she wouldn't be afraid that she had been locked in. He turned to Madam Pomfrey, "I'll heal her if she'll let me."

--------------------

The girl had stopped in the hall outside of the door and was staring out the window. "Would you like to go outside?" Sirius asked. He thought she might be more comfortable if she wasn't confined inside anyway. She nodded, and he offered her his arm. She stared at him, but he noticed an apologetic look in her eyes. "You don't have to," he said gently, "I don't want you to feel bad about being uncomfortable." She suddenly took his arm, which surprised him. He guessed he'd comforted her enough to trust him.

As they were walking silently to the door, Sirius had time to wonder why he was being so nice to her. Sure she deserved someone to be nice to her after what had happened, and she deserved answers from him about what had happened while she was unconscious. However, he didn't know why he was actually worried about her. He'd never been worried about anyone except himself and his friends before, and it was a foreign feeling that he wasn't so sure he liked.

As they were walking down the first set of stairs, he noticed her wince in pain. He glanced down at her stomach, and noticed that she was holding it. "Come on, we have to fix that," he said. She needed immediate attention, and the only place to go was one of the various empty classrooms around. He knew it probably wasn't a good idea to try and get her alone in a room with flat surfaces with him, she might freak out. He set aside all of the feelings that he had about her liking him, and opened a door.

"I don't have to touch you," he calmed her after seeing her eyes widen, "I just need to look at your stomach. It seems pretty bad." She stayed close to the door as he moved more fully into the room. So much for having her lay down and get comfortable, but he wasn't about to ask her to get on a horizontal surface.

She lifted up her shirt slowly, wincing in pain the whole time. He sucked in air through his teeth in an attempt not to gasp audibly. There was a deep gash horizontally across her whole stomach. In his rush to heal it as quickly as possible, he forgot to pull out his wand. Only when she pulled her shirt back down and he started to clean it did he realize his mistake. She'd noticed it, too, and looked at him quizzically.

"You can't tell anyone," he said quickly, "It would put me and everyone I care about in danger if certain people knew about that." He just hoped she wasn't one of those certain people. He'd just realized that he knew nothing about her.

"I don't even know your name. Who will I tell about you?" this was the first time she'd spoken more than a few words to him. It made him realize that she didn't know anything about him either.

"I'm Sirius Black," he told her.

"My name is Alexandrea," she said after a moment's silence.

He grinned at her, "You don't have a last name, Alexandrea?"

"No," she said shortly. That surprised him. He wasn't sure whether she meant that she actually didn't have one, or that she just didn't want to tell him. He shrugged it off and offered her his arm again. They walked in silence the rest of the way outside.

--------------------

Albus Dumbledore sighed wearily as he sank into his chair. Glad for a moment alone, he looked at the newspaper articles spread out on his desk. Everyone, including him, had always assumed that the murderer they were tracking was a male. After seeing the display of power that the girl in the hospital wing had shown, he was starting to rethink that conclusion.

She certainly had enough power to pull the murders off. It would also explain why Sirius Black had been the one to find her. He'd always been a step ahead of everyone else, it seemed, so if he had been on the trail of the murderer like he was supposed to be it made perfect sense that he'd come across this girl. That only left him wondering why someone with so much power had been being attacked.

He looked up as someone rushed into his office without knocking. "Hello, Minerva. What brings you here?" he greeted his Headmistress cordially.

"Is what Poppy says true?" she gazed at him sternly.

"If what Poppy says is that one Mr. Potter caused the patient in the infirmary to attempt an escape, then yes it is true," he informed her.

"I just saw Sirius Black escorting that girl outside," he didn't respond right away, so she continued, "Do you think that's **wise**, Albus?"

He sighed, Minerva was the only person whom he could trust enough to confide in, "No, Minerva, I don't think that it's wise, yet it is the only option that I had. She would speak to no one except Mr. Black. She was on the verge of tearing the entire hospital wing apart until he came in and calmed her. Furthermore, I believe that this girl might very well be the murderer that we have been looking for, and the only way that I have to prove it is to put one of our most valuable members undercover."

Minerva, who wasn't entirely used to outbursts from the usually tranquil Headmaster, said with some amount of surprise, "You think that **she** is the murderer? She's just a tiny slip of a girl! She looks like she might break if you handled her too roughly!"

Albus rubbed his temples, "Yes, and her height would also be an issue for some of the causes of death." He shook the memories of gruesome stabbings and various other murders out of his head, and focused back on the woman in front of him, "Yet, the power she displayed earlier leads me to believe that she is capable of even those things."

She seemed to accept his explanation, "Who will you be sending into the snake pit, then?"

He knew she would never be happy about his decision. No matter how much she denied it, he could tell that she'd always had a soft spot for some of her students. "Sirius Black."

--------------------

A/N: Sorry if there are a lotof grammar mistakes or misusage. I don'tknow whenI'll be able to get back on the computer, so Iwas rushing to get this up.


	4. Ladies, Gentlemen, and Peter

1A/N: This one is really, really short, but the whole purpose was just to properly introduce certain characters to each other, and that purpose was served. I know it'll seem like things progress way too quickly since none of you know the reason **(yet)**. Just go with it, and you'll look back later and say "Oh! **That's** why!".

Chapter Four

Sirius found that the Giant Squid liked to show up when you didn't want it to. He'd loved to see it pop out of the water during his Hogwarts days, but had rarely actually witnessed it. Now that he was trying to calm down a terrified girl, the Giant Squid had decided to emerge mere yards away from them. Luckily, the shocked expression was only on her face for a few seconds before she noticed how unconcerned he was and started to laughed.

He decided immediately that he loved her laugh. It was light and melodic, and caused a sparkle in her eyes. They looked different when they weren't dilated from the flow of power. Sea green wasn't a color he'd ever seen in anyone's eyes before. And damn it he was thinking about how much he liked her again! She stopped laughing and turned to look at him when she realized that he was staring at her.

He held her eyes for a few long seconds. He finally asked, "Do you like it better out here? I always felt more at ease outside than inside the castle."

She nodded, but moved off into a completely different subject, "What is your family like?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "Well, that was a bit random wasn't it?" He turned away from her gaze, "My family are a bunch of Dark Arts worshiping, Voldemort loving, pureblood fanatics. I hate them and they hate me just as much. I moved out when I was sixteen, and haven't spoken to them since. Unless you count my cousins, Andromeda and Narcissa, but Narcissa married a Malfoy so that's over, too."

Alexandrea nodded, but didn't ask any more questions. This confused him because if someone said something bad about a family that he didn't know he would **ask** what was so bad about them. "You look a bit like a Malfoy, actually. So I guess it's my turn to ask what your family is like?"

"I don't have a family," there was no emotion in her response, she had remained completely monotonous throughout the entire conversation and that didn't change when talking about her family, or lack thereof.

Sirius was intrigued now, "Aren't you disappointed or sad or something?"

She turned to fully face him, "I have never had a family, nor have I ever seen an example that caused me to be disappointed with that situation."

"Most families are fucked up, I'll give you that, but that doesn't mean they don't serve a purpose. Mine, for example, no matter how much I hate them, did teach me how I **didn't** want to be," he laid down in the soft grass, propping himself up on his elbow to look at her.

She looked amused at his lack of formality, but was once again serious when she spoke, "I will never have one, so it doesn't matter what purpose they serve."

"Well even if you will never have a biological family, my guess is that you'll marry someone eventually. You'll have a family then," he said from his place on the ground.

Her expression didn't change, "I won't get married."

He sat up to look at her, "Why not? A gorgeous girl like you should have no problem finding a man willing to submit himself to a ball and chain."

Alexandrea turned away from him to look at the lake, "It is not your place to know."

"Right, not my business and all that," she didn't look at him, "We should head back to the castle. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday, and I'm sure you're starving, too." He stood effortlessly and offered her a hand up.

She didn't accept it, but stood gracefully by herself. Great, so now she was going to ignore him. They walked at least five feet apart the entire way back to the castle. Sirius was cursing himself for pushing her, and cursing himself yet again for caring that she didn't like him. He couldn't make up his mind about her.

--------------------

At dinner Alexandrea was still ignoring him. However, she did move her chair as close to his as was possible to still be ignoring him when other people began to enter the Great Hall. He had been waiting for Professor McGonagall to come in, since he had been looking forward to annoying her all day. He'd decided that if he was going to call the headmaster Albus, he was also going to call the deputy headmistress Minerva. Of course he hadn't consulted the woman for her opinion.

He grinned mischievously when she walked in, but scowled immediately as he realized that she was being escorted by Dumbledore. The man turned in his direction, "Mr. Black, I have been looking forward to having that talk with you. After dinner, if you please." Sirius was sorely tempted to inform him that no, it did **not** please him, but he held his tongue.

The Headmaster held out a chair for the woman beside him, then took his own seat. All was quiet for a while, and Sirius turned to his food. When the girl next to him suddenly tensed up, however, he looked up to see what was going on. Dumbledore was looking at her, then he spoke, "I am glad to see that you are feeling better, Miss..." he trailed off expectantly. Alexandrea didn't answer him.

Sirius held in the smirk that was tugging at his mouth. He looked away from Dumbledore to observe Alexandrea's reaction. She was ignoring everyone completely while pushing her food around her plate. He noticed that she had eaten hardly anything at all. Madam Pomfrey noticed, too, but seemed too afraid to say anything.

Sirius decided to change the subject, "Where are James and Remus?"

All heads at the table turned to look at him. Finally Professor McGonagall spoke, "Mr. Potter went home to his family and Mr. Lupin went to rest." Sirius nodded, and the table lapsed back into silence.

The meal went without further incident until Peter showed up. He said that he'd been looking for Sirius, and Dumbledore invited him to take a seat. Unfortunately, the only available place was beside Alexandrea. Peter sat down, and in an attempt to be polite (and perhaps charming), grabbed her hand and kissed the back of her knuckles.

Something that closely resembled a hiss came from her, and in an instant she was as close to Sirius as she could get without sitting in his lap. He turned to glare at his friend over her head as she pressed herself further into his side when Peter's hand almost touched hers again. Peter, to his credit, was trying his best to rectify the situation.

"Peter, just leave her alone!" Sirius hissed in his own right. He received shocked looks from everyone at the table. While everyone knew (and he personally admitted) that he was not a nice person at all, Sirius Black never truly lost his temper with his three closest friends. Or if he did it wasn't in public and was kept very secret by the people involved when it happened.

Sirius noticed with a start that somehow his and Alexandrea's hands had become entwined. He looked down and noticed with alarm that her fingertips were glowing. It was like the energy was forming a white glow where she was holding it ready for use. If she was getting ready to use all of that energy then the situation was about to really turn ugly.

He stood up abruptly, scraping his chair loudly against the floor and carrying Alexandrea with him. He briefly nodded towards the occupants of the table, "Ladies, gentleman," he turned towards his friend with a pointed look, "Peter. We'll be leaving." He made sure that Alexandrea's hand was still firmly in his, although she was fighting him, and walked out of the room.

He'd dragged her all the way to an empty classroom on the second floor before he let her go. She stared at him with wide eyes, before speaking, "You're stronger than me."

He frowned at her, "Of course I am. I'm a million times bigger than you." She made a small sound of affirmation, but was looking at him in a way that let him know she wasn't really paying attention. It seemed like she was looking through him.

Sirius paced a few times before suddenly spinning around, "What happened last night isn't the only reason you won't let anyone touch you is it?"

Her gaze snapped back into focus but she wouldn't meet his eyes, "Why would you think such a thing?"

"The men last night were solidly built. You almost attacked the entire table when Peter touched you, and he's a short, fat, little wimpy thing. That wouldn't have clued me in on its own since you might have been afraid of men in general, but he touched you and you jumped into my arms. You've had your arm in mine, and I've had to carry you enough for you to know that I'm not a fat little wimp," he explained. "There's no way you would be more afraid of Peter than of me if last night was your **only** problem. So, tell me, what's your trama?"

She turned towards a window, and he could barely make out her reply, "I am not his to touch."

"Meaning you **are** mine to touch? Is this something to do with the whole wizard's debt thing? Because you don't owe me anything. I wouldn't own you like that," Sirius was confused.

She spun around, "You wouldn't?" He was really not sure what she wanted to hear. By the time he even contemplated a response, she was speaking with a cold tone to her voice that she'd never used on him, "I want to leave."

He stepped closer to her. She didn't step away from him, but glared at him coldly. He stopped right in front of her, "Where exactly will you go, then?"

"I would rather be anywhere other than here," her voice wasn't getting any less frigid, "Take me to a place where I can leave. Now."

--------------------

Sirius had no other choice except to carry her to the outskirts of Hogsmeade. Even though he didn't want her to go for some reason that was unknown to him, he had no right to keep her anywhere that she didn't want to be.

Even though his mind was screaming at his body to kill something out of frustration, he kept a cool demeanor. "You can disapparate after you pass that sign," he told her, pointing at the Hogsmeade sign. She started to walk away when he said, "I don't get a goodbye?"

She turned, "What makes you think that you warrant a proper farewell?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Well, I saved your honor, assuming you have it. I also seem to remember a moment when I healed your wounds and another where I let you crawl all over me - to get away from a good friend of mine, no less."

"If it's thanks that you want, then you can consider the fact that I haven't cursed you into Hell my thanks," she spat. God, that was the worst thing she could have ever said. It made her irresistible to him. Hardly anyone ever challenged him, and she was the only person who ever had that he didn't want to kill.

He couldn't help himself, in an instant he was dragging her back towards the gates where she couldn't leave. She fought him the whole time he was pinning her securely against the brick column that supported the Hogwarts gates. When she no longer had room to struggle, she glared at him. The look in her eyes almost made him let her go. She was afraid of him.

He didn't know why he couldn't stand that thought. He'd worked for ages to make anyone who knew anything worth knowing be terrified of him, and this tiny slip of a woman being afraid of him almost broke him. He had to make her not scared of him.

If he would have been thinking rationally he never would have done it. Considering her previous ordeals, it was one of the worst ideas he'd ever had. Regardless of anything his logic might have told him had it been working, he did what he desperately wanted to do. He kissed her. She stilled for a second, before she started trying to shake him off again.

The second his lips left hers, she opened her mouth to curse him. He couldn't resist the temptation, and met her opened mouth with his own. Despite the fact that his tongue was actively exploring her mouth, the kiss was exceptionally gentle. After a few long moments, she stopped struggling. Several seconds after that she kissed him back. His grip on her tightened when she began to tentatively explore his own mouth.

He didn't know how long they kissed, but it was over all too soon when she broke away for air. He almost initiated another kiss half a second later, but she used his distracted state to her advantage and pushed him away roughly. It only crossed his mind for a second that she shouldn't have had the strength to shove him as hard as she had. He was too busy thinking of other things, like that fact that by the time he recovered his balance she was already beside the sign.

He spoke gently, "Alexandrea, you don't have to leave."

"Yes, I do. I will only bring you something that you don't want," she was gone before he could even process what she had said.

Sirius stared in shock at the place where she had just been. The first girl he'd ever actually liked before he'd shagged her, and she just left without a proper explanation. He'd be damned if that kiss hadn't made her feel anything. He came to a decision then. He didn't know why he was so drawn to her, and frankly he didn't like it most of the time, but he was going to find her.


	5. Your Worst Nightmare

1Chapter Five

Deciding you were going to find someone and actually doing it were two completely different things. Sirius had spent the rest of the night in the library looking up anything he could find about the powers he apparently shared with Alexandrea. He'd hoped that he would be able to find some bit of information that he'd overlooked while he'd researched his abilities in school. So far he was having no luck.

Only when the words on the page started to get blurry did he even think to stop. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was seven o'clock in the morning. He rubbed his eyes and sighed. He needed to relieve his frustration. He might as well go to Hogsmeade and try to pick up a girl or something. There were plenty of adolescent hot spots in the town that would still be opened if you knew where to look, and Sirius Black was a Yoda-like figure in the adolescent underworld.

Just as he was getting up from the table he felt a presence enter the library. He bristled when he realized who it was. "Albus," he said the name in a sickeningly sweet voice.

If the headmaster caught his tone he didn't react to it, "Sirius, I thought it might be a good time to have that talk."

"Whatever you say," Sirius's voice was impassive, as was his expression.

They didn't talk on the way to the headmaster's office, which made Sirius aware that something was seriously off about the situation. Dumbledore was usually spouting off questions about how his life was going. Sirius hadn't decided whether he was genuinely interested in his students' lives, or if it had something to do with his special abilities. Instead of his usually incessant questioning, the old wizard was staring straight ahead and paying Sirius no attention. By the time they were going up the winding staircase, Sirius had come to the conclusion that Dumbledore was thinking very hard about something.

He entered the office and looked around for anything new. There was almost always some new and interesting object in the headmaster's office, but today there wasn't anything that he could pick out from everything else.

The headmaster walked around his desk and took a seat, gesturing for Sirius to do the same. Once the younger man had comfortably seated himself, Dumbledore spoke, "I hope you're enjoying your stay here. I assume you haven't had the chance to explore the castle so extensively since your own school days."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "I'm not buying the interest in my nostalgia. What the hell do you really want with me?"

"You were always rash about these things," Dumbledore sighed, "How is the hunt for the killer going?"

"Albus, you've had plenty of time to ask me that without needing to have a top secret meeting. We are among Order members, after all. Just tell me the real reason," Sirius prodded.

Dumbledore sighed again, "Very well. We want you to get closer to the girl. She may be important," Sirius's expression didn't change, so he added, "What has Alexandrea told you?"

"How do you know her name?" Sirius was damned sure that he hadn't told anyone else.

"I am accomplished in Legilimens," the headmaster said calmly. Of course, she hadn't known to block her mind from Dumbledore, even though Sirius assumed she was very good at it since he himself was.

When he noticed Dumbledore staring at him, he realized that the man was still waiting for an answer, "I'm sure you just want to know about her because you've noticed her powers, but it's not my own personal information to divulge to anyone."

"Sirius," Dumbledore said sternly, "as a member of the Order of the Phoenix it is your responsibility to divulge anything that might help or hurt our cause."

"What exactly do you think she has to do with anything?" Sirius asked impatiently, "If she was a death eater Madam Pomfrey would have seen the dark mark on her arm, and I know that isn't it since you let her leave with me. So that only leaves one reason, and I can **guarantee** you that she won't be having anything to do with the kind of work you ask me to do, nor will anyone else for that matter!"

"You stubborn boy!" the headmaster exclaimed, "Why can't you just trust that I have a reason?"

Sirius, who was not exactly unused to seeing Dumbledore lose his temper, stood up and leaned over the desk without any fright. "You seem to have little respect for the person who does all of your most dangerous missions. If you know half of the things that you think you do, then you know that I haven't been a **boy** since I was fourteen. While you were so busy gathering all of the fucking information about me that you thought was important, I was right there all but begging for help that I never received. So if I don't have any faith in you, you can blame yourself. I don't trust a fucking thing about you or your intentions, and I don't have any reason to trust a man who is so unapologetic about sending me into almost certain death with a shove out the door while dangling the damned Order over my head. Either you tell me what you want, or you won't get any information at all!" Sirius had waited years to release all of the pent up feelings he had towards the man sitting in front of him, and he felt a hell of a lot better now that he'd said what he'd always wanted to.

Dumbledore, for his part, was staring at Sirius with some degree of shock. A man of his stature demanded respect, and he apparently wasn't used to being yelled at by anyone, much less a twenty-year-old former student with a reputation for his seemingly carefree attitude. After a few moments of inner debate, the headmaster seemed to decide that is would be more efficient to tell the furious man in front of him what he wanted to hear.

He spoke in the tone he normally reserved for lecturing, "I believe that she might be the killer that we've been searching for. Her power is exceptional; only you have exhibited that much power, and I don't think that you killed them. I wasn't planning on turning the murderer into the Ministry, but now that she has proven herself a danger to us I think it would be best if we captured her and handed her in. You are the only agent we have that she seems to trust, so the Order has requested that you detain her immediately."

Sirius didn't know what exactly snapped in his mind, but he knew that he couldn't let them send Alexandrea to Azkaban. "You will take a wizard's oath that you will not give anyone the information that I tell you in this room," he demanded of the headmaster.

Dumbledore blinked at the coldness in his former student's voice, but said the oath regardless since he needed the information he had to offer.

Sirius smirked coldly, and plopped back down in his seat. "I never planned on telling you this. I mentioned before that I don't trust you at all. However, I can't let you have an innocent young woman thrown in prison. First of all, the only reason she attacked anyone is because you tried to restrain her after a very traumatic event," he spoke tonelessly, "Despite what you may think, I **am** the person who killed those death eaters. I've found that I'm really rather good at being an assassin, you see. When I get information that someone is going to threaten either myself or the people I care about, I can't just sit back and let it happen, and the Ministry would never believe that most of those people were indeed supporters of Voldemort. Turning to the Order is certainly not an option, as you all spend so much time trying to determine whether or not there is a better way to deal with death eaters than by killing them that by the time you make a decision one way or the other the target is already dead or pushed to insanity. You will call off any searches you might have going on for Alexandrea, and if you send anyone after me you'll see exactly how good at taking out threats I am. You can consider me no longer a member of your Order, I don't remember taking an oath after all. I'll do as I've always done and look out for myself, just without the constant cloud of closed-minded authorities. Now, I'm going to leave this castle, and you are going to uphold your oath. Good day, Albus."

Sirius decided to go out with a bang, and teleported himself out of the headmaster's office. It was definitely true that you couldn't apparate into, out of, or while inside the Hogwarts grounds, but he had discovered an entirely different form of magic a few years earlier. Teleporting had been used by ancient witches and wizards, before Apparation was discovered. Since apparating was so much easier than the old method of teleporting, the old way was forgotten within a few generations. Since there was no way to indicate the difference between the two, Sirius hoped that Dumbledore freaked out for a while. He had no doubt that the old man would figure it out eventually, but he could at least hope that it took him a while.

--------------------

Sirius was laughing to himself about the scene at Hogwarts when he reappeared inside the massive library of one of his ancestral mansions. He'd just decided to see if a Locator Spell would help with his search for Alexandrea. The reason he hadn't thought of it sooner was because it was extremely hard to do when you didn't have an item that belonged to the person you were looking for. It was so complicated that he didn't even remember exactly how to do it. So here he was, in a house he hated, just so he could use the extensive library. All for a girl he didn't even really know that well.

He looked around at the thousands upon thousands of books, and decided that there was no way in Hell he was going to find what he wanted among them. He sighed before going over to a portrait in a far corner on the lower floor of the library. The portrait was of a pretty, though severe looking, middle aged woman. You could tell by looking at her that she was a Black: dark eyes, pale skin, black hair, aristocratic features, and generally very attractive. She surveyed him warily as he approached, and hesitated when he told her to open.

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Please, don't you recognize a member of your own family? Let me in the damned room or I'll banish you to the Snape's!" The woman in the portrait gasped and flew opened immediately. Sirius smiled, one thing that he'd not hated about his family was their hate of the Snape family. His great grandfather, who had lived in this mansion, had been friends with a member of the Prince family. Then his friend's granddaughter had married a muggleborn, and the Blacks had hated the new Snape family ever since. They'd had to seethe in their anger alone, though, because no one else knew of the event and the families had an unbreakable alliance not to intentionally harm each other.

He smirked to himself as he entered the small room behind the portrait, but his smirk quickly faded as he caught sight of the ancient book lying on the table in the center of the room. He glared at it darkly as he came to stand beside it in two strides. It was very dark magic, and he hated to use it. He did have to admit, though, that the book was much more convenient than actually searching for information. It would give you any spell, charm, potion, or curse that was known. The only problem was that it was very illegal, and extremely dangerous in the wrong hands.

Sirius put aside his distrust of the enormous book, and placed his wand on it since he'd rather not use his hand directly. He thought of what he required, and the pages immediately began to turn rapidly. It finally landed on the spell he needed, and he performed it quickly, frowning when he saw the location it gave him. He teleported immediately after his shock faded.

---------------------

Sirius appeared outside of a decrepit house. He looked around in disgust. The place was even more run down than he remembered. It was yet another of the Black properties, a rather large house, though not a mansion. There were weeds everywhere, and the stone was in bad repair. He didn't know why the Hell Alexandrea would be here of all places.

He picked his way down the path and up the wide stairs before entering into the entrance hall. It appeared that it hadn't been dusted in years, and there were cobwebs everywhere. The once beautiful chandelier was broken and unlighted, making the room extremely dark. He thought he heard something and spun towards the noise, noticing light coming from a partly opened door. He walked towards the light, being sure to keep himself out of sight.

Everything immediately clicked into place when he saw who was inside the room. There were several young death eaters, many of which Sirius recognized from Hogwarts, but the one that stood out the most was the one who surprised him the most. He considered staying hidden so he might hear something of their plans, but decided against it when he realized he had no idea what they were doing to Alexandrea.

He strode confidently through the door, his expression not changing when every death eater in the room, save one, trained their wands on him. He made all of the bones in their arms disappear, choosing to take out his anger on them instead of simply disarming them. He then tied all of them up much tighter than he had to, and turned to the only one left standing.

"Regulus," Sirius spoke coldly, "I guess I just lost a bet. I said that you'd never have the balls to actually do something this dangerous. I guess now I get to make you regret it. I **do** hate losing."

His younger brother was staring at him in shock, but managed to say, "Sirius! What are you doing here? Come to spy for your precious Order?"

"Oh, don't be an idiot. If I was spying I wouldn't have revealed myself," the older Black replied scathingly. "You have something of mine," he didn't stop to think about why he'd just referred to a girl as **his**. Sure, she'd all but said that she was, but he'd never claimed a girl as his property. He didn't like ties.

"Do you really think I care about what Father's will says? You know he was about to take you out of it for good. He lost all hope after the first couple of years that you were ever going to come to your senses. The money and the properties and everything else should have gone to me!" Regulus had walked to stand in his face.

Sirius laughed heartily, "Oh, Hell, you really are a mess!" He stopped laughing abruptly when he felt his brother's wand pressing into his chest, "So you weren't just bluffing; you really do think that I can't hurt you. What you need to realize, **Brother**, is that being associated with Voldemort does nothing to make you more powerful," the younger of the two flinched at the name, but Sirius continued, "The only reason I haven't killed you yet is because I still seem to feel a tie to you for some reason. You pose no problem to me, you're nothing, a weakling. You're a servant for a megalomaniac who isn't even a pureblood."

Regulus's face showed pure shock, "The Dark Lord **is** a pureblood! You just want me to leave what you think is your house!"

"Actually, Regulus, I wasn't talking about the house," Sirius said casually, "When I said you have something of mine, I meant the girl."

"Oh, so now the girl is **yours**?"

"Well, she certainly isn't yours," Sirius retorted, "Give her to me, or I'll find her myself. Do you want the easy way or the hard way?"

Regulus huffed indignantly, "You aren't getting anything!" He started to say an incantation, but Sirius cut him off with a particularly painful curse.

"I can see that you aren't going to be any help, you delusional little git," Sirius said in a bored tone as he headed for the door. He glanced at his younger brother rolling around in pain, and added, "Don't worry, Brother, it'll wear off as soon as I leave the premises. Of course, now that I have to find the girl by myself that'll probably be a while."

--------------------

Despite what he'd said to Regulus, Sirius knew exactly where they were keeping Alexandrea. Even if he didn't know the layout of this house, all he would have had to do was use Padfoot's senses. He found her without incident, since he'd apparently taken out all of the guards in one fell swoop. She was chained up with magical chains in a dingy, dirty cell in the dungeons. It figured that there would have to be dungeons in every Black residence, no matter how small.

There was a large, imposing man standing over her. He would have taken care of that immediately, but the man didn't appear to be actually doing anything to her and he was curious about what he might find out. He stepped closer, staying in the shadows where he wouldn't be detected.

"I won't," those were the first words he'd heard her say since she left, and he was glad that they were strong. She didn't appear to be hurt, just uncomfortable, perhaps.

The man standing over her was enraged by her words, "You have no choice! After how close it came to happening in the forest, you really think that you can stop it?" She only glared hatefully at him, and the man continued, "You might as well just cooperate, because we have found the man of the prophecy. You should be happy - you get to marry your true match now."

Sirius's mind was racing in an attempt to process the information he'd just learned. This man knew about what happened in the forest? Why were they making her marry someone that she didn't want to? There was a prophecy? True match? There were just too many questions, so he tuned back into the conversation at hand.

Alexandrea's hateful glare had not receded, "He is **not** a man, he is just a **boy**, and he is **not** the one spoken of in the prophecy!"

"Oh, so I suppose you know of another man who meets all of the requirements?" he asked sarcastically, "And, dear Alexandrea, if he is a boy then that makes you a mere girl since he is older than you."

"Indeed, I am very young. If I remember correctly - and I know I do because I've studied the prophecy extensively - I am not supposed to be with this man until I am seventeen." Sirius was floored again. She wasn't even seventeen yet? Great job, Sirius, you can add pedophile to your list of attributes, he thought to himself.

The man was speaking again, "You will marry him on your seventeenth birthday, that is true, but nothing was specified about when the relationship must be consummated. That ritual will be tonight, and once your power is transferred to him you will do what we want." He looked thoughtful for a moment, "Although, I am confused about why he is your match. It doesn't seem like he has the strength to control you. It doesn't matter, though, you **will** be with him."

Sirius had heard as much as he could stand to hear. It didn't matter anyways, he was taking her away from here, and **he** certainly wasn't going to make her consummate a relationship she didn't want to have. He stepped forward and blasted the cell's door away with a loud bang. Both occupants of the cell turned their heads to look at him. He caught Alexandrea's eyes, and noticed that they held a mixture of recognition, fear, and relief.

"Who are you?" the man exclaimed irritably.

Sirius shot him a malicious grin, "Your worst nightmare." He used a permanent sticking charm to adhere the man to the wall of the cell, then turned towards the girl, "I've always wanted to say that to someone."

Alexandrea got right to the point, "What are you doing here?"

He bent down to undo her chains, "Aren't you happy to see me?"

"I don't know yet."

The chains fell to the floor with a clank that echoed throughout the dungeons, and he turned his face towards hers, "Are you going to come with me or stay here and **consummate** with some boy?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" she jerked out of his reach, "I'm not going to do anything with you either, if that's what you mean!"

He realized upon looking back that his comment did make it sound like he wanted her that way. Not that he didn't, because he definitely did, but he wouldn't make her. "I just meant to protect you, Alexandrea. I would never make you do anything you don't want to do, but if you don't stay with me you'll just end up with these people again," he clarified.

Her eyes bored into his as she considered him. Finally, she spoke with a much lighter one, "You may call me Alex, Sirius. I've only had one other friend, and that is what she called me. You are more of a friend than I've had in a long time."

Sirius was pleased at that. "Thank you, Alex. If I could shorten my name without sounding ridiculous I'd let you call me that, too," he said humorously. He got a half smile out of her with that comment, but it quickly faded when they heard the door to the dungeons slam. Sirius rolled his eyes, death eaters really didn't know how to be stealthy.

Alexandrea had clutched onto the back of his shirt when he turned around to face the newcomer. Soon enough a very young boy in death eater's robes rounded the corner carelessly, and the girl pressed herself even further into his back. She clutched him tighter and laid her head onto his back, only coming up to middle of it, when the death eater spoke.

"What happened here?"

Sirius snorted, "Even I expected a better response than that! Honestly, can't you tell? I've infiltrated your top secret lair, immobilized all of your guards, and now I'm in the middle of taking your prisoner." The boy gaped at him, then turned around and ran. Sirius fell into a laughing fit.

He stopped short when he noticed that the girl was shaking. He decided it was probably a good idea to get her out of there as soon as he could, so he turned around to face her. "Don't let go of me or God only knows where you'll end up," he informed her, and she immediately took his arm. Satisfied that she wouldn't let go, he teleported them away.

-------------------

Lily Potter's head shot up from the food she was preparing to look out of her kitchen window when she heard a loud clatter. She took one look at the cursing man picking himself up out of her flowerbed and called for her husband before rushing out the kitchen door.

"Sirius Black! What do you think you're doing?" Alexandrea positioned herself close to his side when an irate redhead came towards them at a run.

Sirius stopped brushing the soil off of his clothes long enough to acknowledge his best friend's wife apologetically, "Sorry, Lillian, I've never tried traveling around with someone else. The landing wasn't exactly perfect."

The woman scowled at him, and he grinned back at her. She wasn't mad about her ruined flowerbed any longer, but she **hated** when he called her Lillian. "I've told you time and time again not to call me that!" she reminded him.

"I can't call you Lily! I've never called you that!" he protested, "I can't call you Evans anymore because you had to go and marry that git," he gestured at the man coming out of the cottage, "So, I have no choice but to call you Lillian. Unless you want me to call you Red?" The woman immediately protested that, before turning around and informing her husband that she didn't want to deal with his eccentric friend.

James laughed, running his hand through his already messy hair, and turned to Sirius, "What happened to you?" He gestured at his friend's less than impeccable appearance.

"I just got back from a rescue mission and fell into your wife's roses," he watched as James noticed the tiny girl on his arm for the first time. He was squared with a questioning look, and said lightly, "I think we should go inside. It's a long story."


	6. Female Bonding Time

1A/N: Well, we've reached the point in the story where Alexandrea is a main character. It'll be switching back and forth between Sirius and Alex's point-of-views in pretty much every chapter hereafter, because I figure that everyone needs to get to know the way she thinks.

Chapter Six

Sirius could tell that Alex wasn't at all pleased about being near people she didn't know, especially since she wasn't likely to have forgotten waking up with James standing over her. He supposed Lily's yelling hadn't helped to comfort the troubled girl, either. She didn't follow when he started walking towards the kitchen door behind James, and he turned around to meet her wide, frightened eyes.

He stepped near her and leaned down to her ear to reassure her, "He's my best friend. I trust them both with my life."

She stared skeptically at the man waiting in the doorway and the woman watching through the window. Finally, she turned back to him, "And I trust you with my life." Sirius didn't understand the warmth that spread through him at her declaration. He was..._touched_...that was the only word he could place on his feelings. No one except the Marauders had ever claimed to trust him with their lives.

He took her elbow and led her into the Potters' kitchen. James shot Sirius a questioning look, and Sirius realized that he was still holding Alex's arm possessively. He immediately let go, and was pulled into a brotherly hug by his best friend. James wrapped an arm around his shoulders and started to drag him out of the kitchen, mumbling something about female bonding time. Sirius could tell that he was just nervous around the tiny girl standing in his kitchen doorway.

He was also of the opinion that leaving Alex alone was an even worst idea than him pinning her down and kissing her had been. He stopped abruptly, causing James to jerk to a halt as well, since dragging an unwilling Sirius Black was like moving a particularly formidable mountain. He turned to watch the scene unfolding between the two women. Lily had turned towards the much shorter girl and extended her hand.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you! I'm Lily Potter," the redhead said amiably.

Alex stared impassively at the proffered hand for a few seconds before turning towards Sirius, "If you are going to speak about me with your friend, then I shall be present when you do it." He nodded his assent, and she walked briskly to his side and took his arm before he even offered it. He shot both James and Lily a look over the girl's head that clearly told them not to ask any questions as they proceeded to the sitting room.

--------------------

An hour later Sirius had finished telling the story of the past few days. He'd left out certain parts, of course, like how he had ruined the Three Broomsticks and killed many men. James and Lily were staring at both him and Alexandrea, who was leaning rather heavily into his side and clutching at his robes.

Anything that Sirius had purposely left out of his story was for nothing as James spoke up, "Sirius, you remember what you said about taking care of that problem day before last?"

Gray eyes that had suddenly turned black met hazel eyes. "What about it?" Sirius asked evasively.

"Well, I know you said not to mention it again," James began quickly, he knew better than anyone that upsetting his best friend was almost always catastrophic, "It's just that I read today about this office building in downtown London being infiltrated, and it seemed like your work. Sirius," he took a deep breath, "did you **kill** all of those men?"

Sirius felt like rolling his eyes. They were all such "good" people that they couldn't stand the thought of killing anyone for any reason. He looked his friend calmly in the eye, "Yes, James, I killed them." Before anyone could protest, he continued, "If I wouldn't have a man would have followed Remus to your house, and then I'm sure that there would have been a full fledged attack on Godric's Hollow."

Lily's eyes were wide, "An attack here? At our house?"

"Yes, Lillian, here at your house. You know perfectly well that Voldemort wants you," he felt the girl beside him tense for a moment, and any doubts he had about what side she was on were quickly set to rest.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room, before a shrill scream came from somewhere else in the house. Lily ran out of the room immediately, and Alex moved so close to him that it was almost painful to his already sore ribs. He reflexively moved his arm around her to relieve some of the pressure on his side, and rubbed her back comfortingly while telling her about baby Harry. He glanced up when Lily reentered the room with the baby, and saw that James was staring at him and Alex in shock.

Lily didn't seem to notice, as she was holding out her free hand towards Sirius, "Didn't you say that she had a ring?" she indicated the girl beside him. He nodded and felt the girl tense up as Lily continued, "Well, James gave this to me when he came home. He said he found it in the forest. I thought maybe it belonged to her." She offered the ring in her hand to Alex, who hissed and moved further back into the couch.

Sirius didn't want to touch it anymore than she did. If it had covered her power, then it was sure to cover his, too. He smiled comfortingly at the perturbed redhead in front of him, "I think you should keep it safe, Lillian. It had a horrible effect on her magic, and she doesn't want it anywhere around her."

The four adults in the room stared at each other awkwardly until Harry cooed, "Siri!" The man in question winced inwardly. What was it with babies and not being able to pronounce his name properly? Harry, and even the Longbottoms' son Neville and the littlest Weasley boy, could pronounce everyone's name properly except his. Alex turned to stare at him with a raised eyebrow.

He ignored it and turned around to smile at the infant, "Hello, Harry!" The baby giggled and held his arms out to his godfather. His mother looked reluctant to let him go. Sirius scowled, "I'm not going to hurt my own godson!" Harry was repeatedly making a grabbing motion with his hands toward Sirius. When his giggles turned into shrieks and he started kicking away from his mother, she finally gave in and let him go.

Sirius tossed the laughing baby over his head and caught him deftly. Lily was standing close-by. Apparently she didn't trust Sirius - letting a man who confessed to killing people hold your baby couldn't be that comfortable. He sighed and stood, handing the baby back over to its mother.

"I think I'd better leave," he said calmly, "I hope you realize why I did what I did." He held a hand out to Alex, and she accepted it. He carried them both away without another look at his best friend's family. Anyone who witnessed the scene would have thought that he didn't care, but inside he was less sure of himself than he'd ever been.

--------------------

"What's the deal with the ring?" it was the first time that either of the had said anything since arriving...wherever the Hell they were.

Alex looked at Sirius to answer him, "It has magic in it meant to control me." A derisive snort came from the man in the room with her.

Alex didn't know what to think. She had grown very much used to Sirius Black being the strong, powerful, confident, horribly arrogant and conceited man who was always there to save her. She didn't have any idea how to handle the man in front of her now.

After she had finally lost count of how many times he had walked in front of her, she finally spoke up, "Sirius." He appeared not to hear her, so she tried again, "**Sirius**!" She was not going to beg him to answer her, so she simply used her power to throw him across the room and pin him to a wall.

He looked at her in shock, and immediately started fighting her power with his own. He lifted her up into the air in front of him, and they fought each other for dominance viciously. She knew that he was winning when he started talking to her, "So, why'd you do that?"

She ground out, "You were...pacing."

With a sudden burst of energy she gave out and let him go, and he went tumbling to the floor. He let her go, probably to spite her, she thought unkindly. Since she was closer to the ground than him, she hit the floor first, and he landed on top of her a split second later. She stared at him, and felt the magnetism between them.

Damn it! It couldn't be happening now! At the same time she was cursing her luck, she was so glad that she couldn't explain it to herself. If they were being drawn together so strongly, then he must have realized he felt something for her. It was the only way.

The next thing she knew, his mouth was against hers. For a moment she didn't know what to do. It was only the second time she'd been kissed, and the first time all she'd been thinking about was how to get away. Well, she certainly didn't want to get away **now**. The only problem was that he had no idea what he was getting himself into. She knew this was true when he pulled away and looked at her. He looked confused about what he was doing.

She immediately pushed him away. "You don't know what you're doing."

"I know what I'm doing! I'm snogging you!" he protested.

"That's not what I meant, Sirius," she said quietly, "You don't know what's going to happen if this goes any further."

It didn't seem like he was going to get off of her any time soon. "Damn it, Alex! I've been drawn to you since the moment I saw you; it's not natural for me! Why don't you **tell** me what the hell is going on?"

She took a deep breath. If he wanted nothing to do with her after she told him, then she could finally move on. "My power isn't anchored in me. The first man I am with will get control of my power. It is all part of a prophecy, and you are the man in it."

He was now staring at her with surprise written all over his features. He scrambled off of her, "What! So I don't get a choice in this? I'm just supposed to give my life to you!"

Alex stood up also, "A prophecy doesn't create the future, Sirius. It just predicts it."

"I can't be the right man, Alex. My idea of monogamy is only having one girl on the bed at a time," he said seriously.

"The prophecy was very specific. It spoke of bloodlines and background," she said quietly, "It's either you or your brother."

He stopped the pacing he had resumed to look at her. "That's why you were there."

It was a statement, not a question, and she nodded, "I was getting out of control, so they were going to gain control of me with anyone they could, prophecy be damned. Then they thought that it was him, and their precious _Dark Lord_ was going to use him to gain control of my power."

"I have to think," he started walking for the door, but turned around before he left, "You can stay here if it'll keep you out of Voldemort's hands." Then he was gone.

Alex stared at the place where he'd been. She fought back the tears that were stinging the back of her eyes. She'd spent her entire life perfecting the art of appearing not to care. The only problem was that she'd never felt like this before. Never been in love with anyone.

_Oh God_. She sat down heavily on the sofa behind her. She didn't know why she'd thought that. She'd certainly never thought anything along those lines before. But she knew that wasn't true - she never would have let him kiss her the first time if she didn't feel something for him. The more she thought about it the more she realized that she did love him, and not just because of the prophecy, either. She had trusted him before she realized that he was the one; she'd trusted him in the infirmary before she even knew that he was powerful enough to be the man in the prophecy.

Only he didn't want her. The only person she'd ever truly cared for didn't want her. The only person that seemed to care for her really didn't. The man who she was supposed to **be** with wanted nothing to do with her. She had to get away from this house, away from Sirius Black. If she had to stay near him she would lose her mind.

Only once she had found the door and stumbled outside did she realize that she had no idea where he had taken her. She looked around at the street, and looked back at the house only to realize that it wasn't there. She rushed down the sidewalk, and found that it was raining heavily.

Alex was soon yanked out of the rain, but she would have preferred to stay there. She was pressing back against a hard body, and a hand was over her mouth. "Hello, lovely," a harsh voice said in her ear, and a wand was pressed into her neck. Before she could react everything went black.

--------------------

A/N: Sorry it's so short, but hey at least you get the deal about the whole prophecy and marriage thing! The whole story should speed up in the next chapter or two, since all of the characters know each other (the main ones anyways) and their personalities and situations have been exposed.


	7. Disturb His Nocturnal Pattern

Chapter Seven

Upon getting over himself and storming back down the stairs (with quite a bit of noise and dramatics) less than an hour after he left in the first place, Sirius was very surprised that a certain tiny blonde girl was nowhere to be found. To say that Sirius Black wanted to kick himself over this turn of events would be a gross understatement. He felt like he deserved nothing less than being submitted to the Cruciatus Curse, and then stripped down, smothered in blood, and tied to a tree in the middle of a hippogriff nesting site.

Now, over a week later, he was still moping around the house aimlessly. He didn't want to be found by any of his friends, since he would almost bet that the Potters had told Remus and Peter about his night job. And, truth be told, he was depressed about Alexandrea leaving. Sure, he'd walked out on her first, but that was a moot point. She had, after all, told him in no uncertain terms that he was going to have to be with her. He couldn't have helped overreacting.

Not even the disturbing news of the death eaters planning a major attack on Hogwarts had made him want to leave the dark and depressing house. He was sure the professors' abilities added to the castle's own defenses would keep the students safe. That is, until a particularly persistent owl woke him up at the unthinkable hour of one in the afternoon.

He glared evilly at the vile bird, "Who the hell do you belong to? No one in their right mind would wake me up while the sun is still this high in the sky." He continued to grumble irritably as he accepted the letter from the owl's extended foot. He rolled his eyes in agitation as he finally got a look at the seal on the envelope. Only Dumbledore would dare to risk making him mad by disturbing his nocturnal pattern. He sighed as a looked at letter, which was carefully worded so as not to give anything away in case of interception:

_Sirius,_

_Despite our earlier disagreement_ _I would like you to know that I do understand why you have developed your habit. Although I see your method as a contradiction to your intentions , I am most likely in your debt on behalf of the wizarding world for saving innumerable_ _lives, innocent and guilty alike. _

_As it stands, I hope that you can accept our continued partnership no matter what organizations you are or are not a member of. Even though I am in no position to give you orders, I still hope that I may sincerely request your assistance. There is a dire need for your expertise. Even if you want nothing to do with me, I hope you realize that it is not my own need, but that of ones much younger than myself. _

_Albus_

So, Dumbledore needed him to help fight off the death eaters. Sirius was not convinced by the headmaster's apology or praise or gratitude or whatever else he was trying to give. However, the situation at the school must be much worse than anyone imagined if the old wizard was humbling himself to requesting assistance from an assassin. He headed for the door, incinerating the letter as he went - something born from the habit of never leaving any evidence. There was no way he was going to deny a bunch of innocent kids his aid.

-------------------

A few moments later he was standing in front of the staff table at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The staff were staring at him with wide eyes, and even Dumbledore looked as though he hadn't figured out how exactly Sirius could appear in and out of his school at will. Sirius hadn't been able to resist teleporting in just to make sure that Dumbledore knew he wasn't someone to be taken lightly. He thought that silence had never been so loud, but suddenly whispers could be heard all over the Great Hall. He turned towards the four tables full of students and bowed with brilliant flourish. Those older students that remembered him from his own school days all reacted with amusement at his antics. The younger students, it seemed, didn't know what to think.

"Sirius Black," the headmaster had risen at his position in the center of the staff table, causing the Great Hall to fall silent once again, "Are there horrible deficiencies with the wards that I should be made aware of?" Sirius turned back to face the ancient wizard. No doubt he'd already checked and rechecked his wards tons of times since Sirius's last visit.

"No, of course not. Your wards are in perfect order. Believe me, I tested them," he replied. He wasn't going to offer any more information. He was quite enjoying seeing Dumbledore so bothered about something. He'd told the truth, too, he **had** tried apparating at first just to make sure that the death eaters hadn't found a way to disable that particular defense.

He was exposed to Dumbledore's penetrating gaze for a few moments before the old wizard finally spoke, "Perhaps we should retire to my office to discuss your reason for being here?" Sirius understood perfectly why the headmaster wanted to leave the Great Hall - he didn't want to worry any of the students with talk of a battle. He nodded his assent, but before he could speak was stopped by an angry voice.

"Now you just wait right there, Dumbledore!" Sirius turned to see an angry man standing at the Gryffindor table, "You have made it perfectly clear that it isn't safe to leave this castle, so we have no choice but to stay. We deserve to know what you are going to do about You-Know-Who!" Many voices agreed with the angry man, and Sirius noticed that there were many adults sitting among the students. No doubt they were parents who had come to take their children home after hearing the rumors of a death eater attack on the school. The castle gates and the floo network were probably being watched, so if they left they would probably die, and he was sure Dumbledore had told them as much to get them to stay.

The headmaster didn't lose his calm demeanor as he tried to pacify the frightened witches and wizards before him, "I do not wish to frighten anyone by exposing them to the horrors of war, especially the children. I feel that it is best for myself and certain other professors to speak with Mr. Black about this alone." He stopped the outbursts from coming by adding, "After the plans are final we will, of course, hold a meeting for the professors who aren't invited to my office, and any parent is free to come, also."

There were many murmurs of acceptance throughout the Great Hall, but there were also those who seemed to disapprove. The man who had first protested spoke out again, "The students deserve to know what's happening out there as much as we parents do! Damn their age! They're old enough to know that death eaters are going to pour into this school at any moment, and you wish to speak with that man over everyone else?!" The man was gesturing wildly at Sirius.

That outburst had caused quite a few people to get frightened looks about them, particularly the younger students. The headmaster looked as though he were about to release his own anger at the tactless man, but Sirius beat him to it. "Now you listen here, you thoughtless bastard," he said loud enough for everyone to hear, "I want you to take one look at the faces around you and tell me that they are ready to hear about the situation! They're scared to death! A complete idiot could have told you that before you went and told them that they are all going to be attacked by death eaters! We will do what the headmaster said and you won't say another word about it!"

Sirius turned on his heel and headed for the double doors leading out of the room, and the members of the Order rose to follow him. It seems, however, that when a person is scared they can't leave well enough alone. The man's voice stopped Sirius in his tracks, "Who are you to tell us what to do?! What great plan do you have to save us that the almighty Albus Dumbledore needs to speak to you?! You can't be old enough to have any great knowledge or power! I'm not going to let you get us all killed if it's the la..." The man was cut off in the middle of his tirade by being thrown by an unseen force to land right at Sirius's feet. He was grabbed by his collar and yanked to his feet forcefully by the young man in front of him, and he wouldn't have spoken even if he could have mustered up something to say after he caught the look in his assailant's eyes.

"Well, who are you to question anything?! I suppose you have some great knowledge or power because you're older than me? Or perhaps you have some experience with battling Voldemort?" Sirius had everyone's attention now, "You are seeking refuge from this castle and from the headmaster, and you would do well to leave the decision making up to him! If you have an oh-so-brilliant plan to protect everyone then you're free to say so, but if all you want to do is question those of us who **do** have something up our sleeves then I suggest you take your own chances against Voldemort and his army." Sirius chose to ignore the gasps that accompanied the name he'd shouted twice now.

Sirius felt a hand on his shoulder, "Sirius, that's enough. You've made your point." He reluctantly dropped the man back to the ground - he hadn't even realized he'd picked him up **off** the ground in the first place - and followed the headmaster out the door with one last menacing glare.

As soon as they were out of earshot of the people in the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall spoke, "Was that really necessary, Mr. Black?"

He gifted the strict woman with a brilliant smile that contradicted his previous mood, "No." She spluttered for a proper reply, but ended up stalking away from him instead. "Come now, Minerva, I'm not all that bad!" he called after her, jokingly. She continued to walk beside the headmaster as if she hadn't heard him. Sirius laughed out loud, he'd always suspected that she wouldn't know what to do with herself if she couldn't reprimand him.

--------------------

Sirius was becoming horribly annoyed by the time they reached the entrance to the headmaster's office. The others had kept a large space between themselves and Sirius, and had been staring at him when they thought he didn't notice. He rolled his eyes as everyone stepped out of the way for him to take the winding staircase first. Apparently they didn't want to turn their backs on him or something.

"Yes, because I'm highly likely to start thinking about the detentions they gave me, lose my temper, and decide to get revenge after all these years by killing them," he muttered irritably.

Professor Dumbledore heard him and started chuckling, "Mr. Black if you were going to take revenge for being punished I do believe that I would be your first target."

He grinned at the headmaster, "I did spend a lot of time in your office."

The exchange between Dumbledore and Sirius seemed to calm the other professors considerably. Sirius figured that they would trust Voldemort himself if only Dumbledore treated him kindly. He sometimes worried about the light side. They trusted much too easily. If he **did** want to kill them all he would have to do to gain everyone's trust and get invited to their top secret meetings was play nice with the headmaster.

He figured that the only person who wouldn't blindly trust someone just because Dumbledore liked them would be Mad-Eye Moody. Of course, Moody trusted Sirius explicitly, so that was a moot point. It had been quite by accident that Sirius had gained the paranoid man's trust and friendship. When Sirius had still been living his childhood dream and was in auror training, he had been at the top of his class. When it came time for field work, the director had paired him with Moody - to see if he was really as good as he seemed, no doubt. Everyone had expected him to fail because trainees who got paired with Mad-Eye Moody almost never made it to becoming a fully trained auror.

Sirius and Moody had gotten into quite a few fights. He infuriated the old man. It was only after Sirius's last year of training was almost over that Moody let on that he actually liked him. It had come as quite a shock to Sirius when Moody had passed on one of his Order assignments to Sirius. Sirius had killed the death eater for Moody, and when it leaked out what had happened Moody had been the one to defend Sirius against the director. Sirius had decided then that being an auror was too oppressive for him, and had told Moody as much. That conversation was still fresh in Sirius's mind:

_Sirius dropped wearily into a chair in front of Mad-Eye Moody's desk. He was breathing heavily, and had blood all over him. "Moody," he greeted dully._

_The frightening looking man didn't look up from his paperwork, but Sirius knew that he was watching him with his magical eye. "You're dripping blood on the carpet," he was informed._

"_So do a couple of Scourgify Charms and stop bitching like you were my fucking mother," he said irritably, and when the man looked up at him fully he continued, "I'm not becoming an auror."_

_Moody nodded briefly, "No, I didn't figure that you would."_

_Sirius knew that he was waiting to hear where the blood had come from. He sighed and looked his mentor in the eye, "I trust you, you know."_

_A brief look of surprise flittered across Moody's face, but he answered as if he knew it all along, "I know, and I don't plan on breaking it anytime soon."_

"_I have plenty of things to keep me busy since Father died, so you know where you can find me if you need me," he paused, but his hesitance only lasted a few seconds before he pulled a bundle of paper out of his pocket and dropped it on the desk, "There's the correspondence everyone's been dying to intercept."_

_Realization shadowed Moody's face. "It's amazing how it just randomly appeared in my office," he said. It was his own way of telling Sirius that he wouldn't turn him in._

_Sirius nodded grimly, "Have fun with it, you washed-out old nutter." The last thing he saw before he left the auror department for good was Mad-Eye Moody half smiling. It was an unnerving sight, indeed._

For a long time Mad-Eye Moody had been the only person in the world who knew exactly who killed the death eaters. He hadn't turned him in, but had actually visited him a few times to praise his technique. Once or twice he'd even given him assignments - **un**authorized ones, of course. Sirius was under the impression that Moody was the only auror worth having on the whole force. He was the only one who openly argued that killing death eaters immediately was the only way they had a chance of saving lives or winning the war.He didn't believe in putting death eaters into Azkaban, right into Voldemort's hands once again.

The director had begged him to go ahead with becoming an auror. Sirius felt partly responsible that Moody didn't get any of the good trainees anymore. Apparently the director was sick of Moody chasing them away and only gave him the ones that he didn't want one way or the other. Moody had never complained though, he told Sirius that he enjoyed only having to put up with snot-nosed brats for a few weeks tops before they'd had enough of him and decided to quit.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he reached the top of the staircase and came face to face with the door. He opened it and stalked in, still annoyed at being able to feel people staring at his back. He dropped heavily onto a couch, and watched as the others filed in. They all fought subtly for seats as far away from him as possible, only McGonagall fearlessly took a seat right next to him.She was still ignoring his mischievous grins in her direction, however.

"You're sure the wards are holding up, Sirius?" Dumbledore spoke.

"Positive, Albus. Not that you haven't checked them for yourself," he replied.

The headmaster chuckled, "Yes, of course, but it's always good to have a second opinion," he turned serious again quickly, "The defenses will make it so that they can only enter the grounds through the gates, the lake, or the Forbidden Forest. We can defend those places easily, it is their sheer number that worries me. If we are too outnumbered it will pose a problem even if they are only coming through one of the entrances."

"How many people do we have?" Sirius asked.

"The ministry doesn't believe the rumors; they say that the castle is impenetrable. We will only have those aurors who are members of the Order to join the rest of us. A hundred if we're lucky," Sirius was disheartened by the news.

He sighed and rubbed his temples, "Alright, we have to do this carefully then. The people who they know will be here will meet them on the ground. Those who they only suspect are Order members can attack from the air so they have a chance of not being recognized. Anyone who isn't supposed to be affiliated with us, who doesn't want to be seen for the protection of their families, or who isn't excellent on a broom we can hide. There will be so much confusion on the battlefield that the death eaters will think that we only have the small number they can see, but we'll have a great deal more hidden away out of sight. As for the lake, we can just have a little chat with the merpeople and the Giant Squid."

Everyone was staring at him openly. "Surely your brief time as an auror did not teach you this much about battle?" Madame Pomfrey voiced the question on all of their minds.

"No, it didn't," he wasn't going to reveal anything to them. A sudden thought came to him, "Albus, I assume that the wizard's oath that Snivillus took during school means that he didn't tell any of the death eaters about the Whomping Willow or the Shrieking Shack?"

The twinkle reappeared in Dumbledore's eyes, "Yes, I don't believe the death eaters know anything about either one."

"I'll get a group together then," he informed the headmaster.

Professor McGonagall eyed them both suspiciously, "A group for what?"

He turned to grin at her again, "Well, to capture death eaters, of course. A few of us will be able to stun death eaters and drag them into the tunnel under the Whomping Willow without anyone noticing. We can change into their little costumes and join the ranks of death eaters in their place."

Everyone's eyes got big at the plan. Dumbledore reassured them, "In the confusion of battle they can very easily kill their fellow death eaters without being discovered as imposters. I'm sure that Mr. Black has a wonderful plan to make sure that no Order members kill them either. We can take down many more that way than if we tried to take down all of the death eaters openly."

Sirius hated to ask the next question, "What about the seventh years?"

The professors shot him looks of horror. "The students will have nothing to do with this battle, Mr. Blackཀ How dare you ask us to throw students into war?ཀ" McGonagall exclaimed, gaining vehementsupport from everyone else in the room.

"As much as we try to deny it, they are of age to do what they want to do. It's not as if you can threaten them with detention if they dare to stray onto the battlefield," Sirius pointed out, not at all put off by the open horror on the faces around him, "Any seventh year who wants to fight is going to find a way to do it. I propose that we put the parents and the seventh years who want to fight in places inside the castle where they have opportunities to help. The Astronomy Tower, the clock tower, and even Gryffindor Tower are perfect places to attack through the windows. They would have the same protection shields around them as everyone actually on the battlefield, of course. That way they get to help without being out in the open."

Dumbledore sighed wearily. He looked more tired than Sirius cared to see him on the eve of battle. "Sirius is right, of course. We cannot protect legal adults by forbidding them from helping, even if they are our students. We will open the upcoming meeting to anyone who is of age. Sirius's plan is the best course of action if we don't want students using their broomsticks to fly out of windows and join us."

Sirius looked up at the clear accusation being thrown at him. "It was a much too wonderful opportunity to pass up! It isn't as if you can go around everyday renewing spells on every window or ledge in the whole castle, so it's a wide open chance to sneak out," he said, "Besides, I didn't do it after second year."

"No, I'm sure you found a much easier way to sneak out that I'm not aware of," the headmaster said irritably. Sirius knew that Dumbledore disliked having him inside Hogwarts greatly. After all, what kind of headmaster lets a confessed assassin run around his school freely? Sirius wasn't under any false pretensesthat he was going to be friendly with Albus Dumbledore any longer.

Sirius turned his head to look out the window. "I suggest you hold that meeting now,"he said, standing quickly and pointing his wand at Dumbledore.

The headmaster looked surprised, "What are you doing?"

"Teaching you this nifty shield I know of. I can't just stand outside the Great Hall and cast it a thousand times by myself," he said as if he were speaking to a group of small children.

After he was sure that all of the professors were capable of casting the protection spell on the people in the castle, he said, "Now, I'm assuming that James, Remus, and Peter already know about this?"

Professor Flitwick answered, "I informed them myself. Young MessrsPotter and Lupin are gathering as many people as they can before they come. Mr. Pettigrew said he would come if he could get away from his company without arising suspicion."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Well, then I suppose it's a good thing I wasn't depending on Peter's aidAs soon as James and Remus get here would someone be kind enough to put them somewhere and tell them not to move until I get there? If the plan is going to work I'll have to be able to talk to them without interruption in enough time for them to gather up a few people."

"Why not just have the others put away somewhere and told not to move until you get there along with Mr. Potter and Mr. Lupin?" Professor McGonagall asked suspiciously.

"The walls have ears, my dear Minerva. I don't think it's wise if anyone knows every single person who will be in that group. So I'm going to tell them the plan and leave it to them to pick out their own companions," Sirius explained his reasoning.

"You really are too experienced at warfare, Mr. Black," Madame Pomfrey said. It was common knowledge that she hated seeing young people go into battle. She hated everyone going into battle, but young people in particular struck a nerve in her.

He smiled grimly at her, "I suggest we join everyone else now." He motioned out the window to the dark figures mulling around Hogsmeade. "I give it a couple of hours before they figure out how to get past the wards that are keeping them out," he said grimly

_--------------------_

He didn't know how he was going to handle this day. The meeting hadn't even started yet and Sirius was already frustrated.When the headmaster announced that students younger than seventeen were to report back to their respective common rooms, the protests began immediately. The younger students, mostly sixth years, felt that they were old enough to know what was going on, too. The commotion was so loud that not even Dumbledore could restore order. Sirius cast a charm that made a shrill whistle, not unlike an air horn, emit from his wand. Everyone stopped yelling to cover their ears, and turned to glare at him.

"I'm sure that the seventh years will inform everyone else of the contents of this meeting, so you don't have to worry about being kept out of the loop. That's not our intention anyway," Sirius spoke so his voice could be heard by everyone in the Great Hall, "Everyone who is legally an adult is allowed to stay because they are able to fight. Everyone else is not old enough to make that decision, and we don't want to deal with your parents when they find out that we let you come to a strategic meeting before a battle. We do have a job for everyone, and your heads of house will be in the common rooms to hand out assignments after we're done here."

This seemed to pacify the students since they slowly began to trickle out of the Great Hall. The ghosts followed along behind them at the request of the headmaster to make sure no one tried to sneak back into the meeting.

Professor McGonagall slid up beside Sirius and yanked his head down to whisper in his ear, "What exactly do you plan on us telling them when they want to know what their jobs are?!"

"Some sixth years can help Madam Pomfrey, some can be messengers between the different groups in the castle, and some can of course be told to "guard" certain rooms - they don't even have to be important as long as the students think they are. Everyone has a purpose, everyone is happy, and you won't have to worry about whether or not some heroic idiots will try to join the battle," he said calmly.

The woman stared at him, before nodding once and walking to stand beside the headmaster. Sirius laughed, he never expected her to be able to admit that he was right about something. He shook his head and looked around the Great Hall. He didn't know what to do with himself, and it was really freaking him out. Drop him into the middle of a battle or give him someone to kill and he wouldn't flinch, but put him in front of a few scared people and he didn't know what to do.

The meeting only lasted half an hour, and during that time Sirius felt a burden being placed on his shoulders. He watched the faces of the people in the Great Hall; they were all so young, so ready to fight. All of them were much too young to be exposed to battle. Sirius new that he was only three years older than the youngest ones, and significantly younger than the parents, but he couldn't help but feel like they didn't belong in the middle of this war. He was made to fight, made to kill and induce pain, made to endure pain. He knew he was going to die in battle.They had never killed anyone, never endured the Cruciatus Curse. They'd been raised to live: to get jobs, get married, make babies, and be happy. They were raised by generally good people, and were generally good people themselves. He found himself hating the death eaters even more than he ever had. They were attacking a school full of innocent children just to get to its headmaster. A headmaster who would have gone out to meet them away from the school if he had to.

Sirius's mind came to a chaotic halt. Why the hell was Dumbledore still here?! He was leading these people to their deathsཀ If he would have just left Hogwarts in the first place Voldemort would never have had an interest in showing the world that he could conquer it.Sirius was here defending the defenseless because their headmaster was too selfish to leave.The only thing that Voldemort was focused on at the moment was getting rid of his biggest threat, Albus Dumbledore, yet an entire school was being attacked.

Several people seemed to have noticed Sirius shooting death glares at the headmaster. He was saved from the entire Hall noticing by the double doors swinging open. In walked the Order of the Phoenix. At the front of the group of people filing into the Great Hall were Mad-Eye Moody, Arthur Weasley, the Longbottoms, Remus Lupin, and James Potter.

Sirius walked over to stand between his two best friends, and whispered, "Come with me." He received two identical looks of confusion, but was followed closely back out the door nonetheless. He headed for one of the many hidden corridors that was nearby, and herded his friends into it. After he made sure that the area was secure, he turned back to face his friends. It wouldn't be difficult getting them to go along with his plan, but that didn't make Sirius feel any better about the battle that was looming mere minutes away.

_--------------------_

The first thing that Alex was aware of was the voices. There were voices all around her: gruff voices belonging to equally gruff men. She couldn't understand what they were saying, but she knew that they weren't discussing the latest fashions of the season. Whatever it was, there was nothing good or innocent about it.

The next thing she became aware of was the pain. She was lying on the hard ground, and a rock or a stick or something was digging into her side. She didn't dare to move, though. She didn't want to know what these men were going to do to her as soon as they realized that she was awake. Her hands were bound behind her back, and her arms were numb from being in that position for too long. Upon further assessment of her body, she realized that her feet were tied together, also.

She wanted to cry, wanted to scream, wanted to let all of her fear, pain, and anger out. More than anything, though, she wanted Sirius Black. He had been right about her needing to stay with him. The minute she left his company she got kidnaped, and she was probably about to be raped and placed under a strange man's control. Not even Sirius could save her then. She would belong for eternity to the first man who took her.

Not for the first time in her life, she cursed her mother. The woman who had sold her unborn baby's soul for the opportunity to survive the wounds from a fatal accident. She had indeed survived those wounds, but - oh, the irony of it all - been killed as soon as her daughter was born. Her continued existence after being saved from the accident hadn't been a part of the bargain with the evil warlock who had healed her in the first place.

The warlock had raised her like a princess. She had been given everything that she could ever want or need, and many things that she never even thought of hoping for. She had been very happy as a child, until she learned the truth. She learned of her mother, of her birth, and she learned that the man who she worshiped as a child was planning on making her his bride as soon as she was old enough to please him. The magic had been performed before she was even born, she was damned and hadn't even had a choice in the matter. From the moment that she lost her innocence, she would stay the way she was forever, as would the man. They would live until the end of the world, never changing. She would be at his mercy, his slave until the very end.

It was extremely dark magic, lost to the world now. The warlock was the last remaining member of his family, and only that family knew the secret. She had killed him, and that was the day that a seer in a coven of powerful wizards had made the prophecy about her. The coven had found her, a thirteen-year-old girl covered in blood sobbing in a corner next to a dead body. They had taken her with them, and taught her about her powers. Her powers were the reason that the warlock had targeted her in the first place. There are always a handful of powerful witches and wizards born in every generation, but on a much less common basis one is born with truly extraordinary powers. The founders had been the only case of more than one being born in the same period, and Merlin was perhaps the best known example.

She had thought that she was free once the coven had taken her. She had been wrong. Days before her seventeenth birthday she made mention of wanting to go out into the world and live like a normal person. The leader of the coven had laughed in her face. She was told that she would marry one of them. She had run. They had caught her in the forest, and that was when her life finally took a turn for the better. She had met Sirius Black in that forest.

Now that, too, didn't matter. Even if he one day changed his mind about wanting her, it would be far too late for them. She had been buying time when the death eaters had helped the coven recapture her, but now her seventeenth birthday had passed and she had no excuses left to buy time with. She was sure that the moment they knew she was awake they would force her to marry someone.

She didn't know how long she lie there contemplating her life and her situation, but she planned on doing it for as long as she could. If she had a choice, they would never know that she was awake. She could lie there and waste away for all she cared. Her plans were ruined when one of the men walked past her head. He kicked up dirt, and she sneezed before she could stop herself.

Hands were on her in a second, "Go tell Master that she is awake."

She tried to fight the men who were lifting her up, but if was impossible with her hands and feet bound. Her magic wouldn't work, so she assumed that they had found another ring to inhibit it. She knew that she was doomed, and all she could do was cry for a lost life and a lost love.

--------------------

A/N: No action in Alex's point-of-view, but I'm sure you can tell that tons of action is coming up! So the next chapter really gets this story started: a battle and a wedding! Sorry for the cliffhangers...well, no, I'm not actually. Reviews seem to make me feel like writing a whole lot more. coughHINTcough


	8. Ruining that Pretty Face

1A/N: There is a sex scene in this chapter, like right at the start. Just a warning: if you are **really** an Alex fan then you probably won't like it at all.

Chapter Eight

Sirius looked over the edge of the Astronomy Tower. The height afforded an unobstructed view of the Hogwarts grounds and all of Hogsmeade. He could see the death eaters roaming around in Hogsmeade. By his estimate, they had an hour before the wards came down. He still didn't understand why the headmaster didn't just meet them head on and keep them out of the castle grounds. He didn't, however, think that he could take down an unknown number of trained death eaters by himself, so he went along with Dumbledore, planting ideas where he could.

Footsteps on the stairs drew him away from the ledge. He turned to see who was joining him on the tower, and came chest to face with a girl he recognized from the meeting as a seventh year. She gasped and jumped further away from him. He took the opportunity to look her up and down. She was pretty, not gorgeous by any means, but pretty. He flashed her a winning smile.

"I have a feeling that you aren't supposed to be up here," he said casually. He sat down and leaned against the wall, looking up at the flustered girl.

"I had to get away," she lifted her chin defiantly.

He let out a bark like laugh, "Well, aren't you defiant? Sit." He patted the ground beside him. The girl hesitated, but eventually sat, putting as much distance between them as she could. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Her eyes snapped up to meet his, "What?"

"You're afraid. Sometimes the best option is to talk to someone," he had no idea why he cared about what this girl felt. He blamed it on the oppressing atmosphere.

"I am not afraid!" she exclaimed. He shot her a withering look that clearly said he didn't believe her. She looked away from him, glanced back at him, and then tears welled up in her eyes. "I don't want to die!" she dropped her head into her hands and sobbed it out to him.

"Why do you think you're going to die?" he asked. He needed to get it out of her before she broke down completely.

She hiccupped and looked up at him through teary eyes, "I can't fight! I'm horrible at it!"

He failed to see the problem, "Then why are you fighting?"

Her eyes widened dramatically as she stared at him, "How can I not! You-Know-Who is attacking the castle! I can't just not defend it!"

"There's nothing wrong with not fighting if you aren't good at it. If you're this upset about it you'll probably just get in the way," he scooted closer to her and put his arm around her, "Come on, stop crying. You're ruining that pretty face."

She tensed and glanced at him shyly, "What?"

He smirked at her, "You heard me."

He knew that the wind blowing his hair out of place paired with the light causing his eyes to glow made him look especially appealing, but he hadn't expected what came next. She leaned up and kissed him square on the mouth. He was surprised, but kissed her back automatically as her hands roamed over his chest. Only when suddenly she was straddling his lap did he pull back.

"You're afraid, you think you're going to die, and emotions are running really high right now. You aren't thinking properly," he took her hands, pulling them slightly away from his chest. He was wondering if he was sick or something. If he was his normal self he would have taken advantage of the situation and had the girl under him by now.

The girl closed her fingers around his hands, which were still enclosing hers. "I want you to," she whispered.

He stared at her incredulously, taking in the look in her eyes and how tense her entire body was. She did look like she needed **something**. He was about to kiss her again when an image of Alex popped into his head. He felt like it would be betraying her to do anything with this girl, but after considering that for a few seconds he decided that it was all the more reason to do whatever he wanted. He didn't owe anything to anyone! Besides, he hadn't had sex in two weeks, which was a serious dry spell for him. His mind made up, he jerked the girl down against his chest. He started kissing her forcefully, pushing his tongue into her mouth immediately - he was so caught up in getting Alex out of his head that he was beyond caring if this girl wanted him to comfort her.

She responded to him almost shyly, and he wrenched his mouth away from hers, "Are you a virgin?"

"No," came her response. That was good enough for him, and he cast away any guilt that he felt about using the girl. He didn't want to think about the fact that she was probably so timid because he was being so aggressive.

He muttered a quick spell, which got rid of all of their clothes. She gasped at the unexpected feeling and glanced down in surprise. He used her distraction to flip her over onto her back. Sirius didn't want to waste any time, since he didn't suppose they **had** a lot of time before the battle started. He entered her roughly, and didn't pause before he started moving quickly. There was nothing gentle about the way he was using her body, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

He felt fingernails digging into his shoulders and looked up at her face through his sweaty bangs. Her head was thrown back and her mouth was slightly opened. Even though he had no intention of stopping no matter what, he briefly wondered if that was a look of pleasure or a look of pain. His worries were cast aside when she moaned and wrapped her legs around him. A few seconds later she screamed, causing him to groan in turn at the things her body was making his feel. No, he definitely wasn't stopping.

When he'd finally had his fill of her sometime later, he lay beside her looking up at the sky as he let her snuggle into him. Sirius had never felt so unenthusiastic after getting a great shag. He wasn't particularly happy, and he didn't want to do it again. Those were two things that he had thought would never be possible. She didn't seem to notice that he wasn't cuddling with her in return. She breathed out his name, and he turned his head to look at her.

His gaze fixed on something over her head, and his eyes widened. He heard her say his name again, but he didn't respond. He was staring through the railing at the ground below the tower. The wards had been breached and death eaters had started streaming through the gates. He shoved her off of him and scrambled for his clothes, which the spell had folded neatly into a corner.

The last thing he heard was the girl calling after him, but he didn't stop or look back at her. He knew that he would never try to see her again, so he didn't feel any guilt over leaving her in favor of fighting. A good battle was just what he needed right now. He switched into the persona that he always presented to his opponents as he rushed down the stairs of the Astronomy Tower towards the battle below.

--------------------

As soon as he opened the enormous double doors the sight of a battle met his eyes. Professor McGonagall was outnumbered five to one right on the castle stairs. He jumped in to help, and between the two of them they took down the death eaters quickly.

He didn't stop to look at his former professor as he moved onto the next battle he could find. The sounds of battle were surrounding him. There were death eaters falling left and right. Sirius was in his element. The rush of battle couldn't be duplicated by anything.

Sirius attacked, blocked, maimed, and killed to his heart's content. He moved around the battlefield like it was a choreographed dance. Running, jumping, turning, diving...all of it was seamless. He didn't know how long he fought, but when there was finally a lull in the stream of death eaters facing him he realized that he was sweating from the movement. It was dripping from his shaggy hair, and he impatiently swatted it out of his eyes as he looked around for something else to do.

He didn't have to wait long for more action. There was a loud explosion, and a voice shouted, "They're in the castle!" He didn't think as he ran for the school. He didn't even stop to take in the horror filled faces that he was running past. He didn't have time for people who were too caught up to react. They wouldn't be any help anyways.

As he got closer he took in the damage. The death eaters had done something to blow the front doors into tiny pieces. He ran into the building without hesitating. There were death eaters swarming the castle. He fought through the ones set up to guard the entrance hall, relieved when the reinforcements finally got over their shock and showed up to help him.

He heard a girl's scream above him and looked up the stairs to see a death eater holding a girl with his wand aimed at her head. The girl was sobbing uncontrollably. Sirius noticed that she was only half dressed, and that most of her buttons were undone. He cut a path to the stairs and ran for the pair as fast as a could. He realized that the girl was the same one that he'd had sex with in the Astronomy Tower just a while before.

Before he could reach them he heard shouts, and looked back down to the hall below to see Professor Flitwick yelling in panic up at the girl. "Let her go!" the tiny man's voice carried amazingly well over the commotion of battle.

Sirius spun back around just in time to see the death eater cast the Killing Curse at the girl's head. She had no hope of dodging it at such close range, and she crumpled to the ground, not moving again. He heard Flitwick's yell of outrage, and killed the death eater before the tiny professor could try it himself. It wouldn't do for a master duelist such as Professor Flitwick to get killed because he was distracted trying to take down one certain death eater. He pushed aside the guilt he felt well up in his chest as he looked at the girl's half naked body. He had used her and left her, and now she was dead. He hadn't even known her name. Hell, he hadn't even **thought** about it.

He was snapped out of his daze when a fist connected solidly with the side of his face. Even while his head snapped to the side he automatically grabbed for the perpetrator. He jerked his attacker backwards into a closet, and then spun around to face him.

The death eater was fighting his grip, "That was my brother! YOU KILLED HIM!"

"Yeah, and now I'm going to kill you, too," Sirius wasted no time in disposing of the man. He then stripped him of his death eater robe and put it on himself. He then helped himself to the man's mask, glancing at the face as he took it off. A young man; he was probably pushed to complete idiocy after watching his brother die. Only someone in a state of shock would have used their fist instead of just killing someone. Sirius chided himself for not paying more attention - he couldn't allow himself to think about anything during battle if he didn't want to die. If it had been an experienced death eater he would be dead.

Dressed as a death eater, he strode out into the hall. He stayed in the shadows, heading for a tunnel that he knew would take him back outside to rejoin the battle. He stopped as he heard noise coming from around a corner.

He quickly slipped into a tight alcove as two voices came into hearing distance, "The tunnels are definitely useful."

"Once we find out where we are we have to hurry up and get back to the camp. This is just to make sure that the source is telling the truth, not a pleasure trip," another voice answered.

The footsteps were getting closer, "Yes, we don't want to miss the wedding."

"It should be entertaining. The girl is less than happy with the match."

Muffled laughter came from the other speaker, "Would you be happy to marry the Dark Lord?"

"No," was the reply, "Especially not if he was just going to use me for my power."

Two death eaters rounded the corner as the other one spoke, "That isn't entirely true...I'm sure he'll take his pleasure from her, too. She is very beautiful. I suppose an heir is also on the Master's mind."

"Maybe after he gets one he'll let us have a turn with her," laughed one.

His companion laughed along with him, "I'm not sure that the Master will even let us look at her. Although, I can't say that I'd mind having a piece of his...what did he say her name was again?...Oh, _Alexandrea_." The death eater rolled the name off of his tongue like silk, and Sirius froze.

_Not her!_ His mind refused to get past the image of the tiny, pale blonde girl lying broken and lifeless on the ground like she had been the first time he had brought her to Hogwarts. He forgot all about magic, all about power, and all about who he was dealing with. He was reduced to a man seeking revenge, and now he understood why the death eater had wanted nothing more than to hit him when he had killed his brother. He wanted to tear into someone and rip them apart limb from bloody limb.

--------------------

Alex kept up her stoic appearance as she was stripped by the two women whose care she was in. She had screamed and cried the entire time the brutes had dragged her to the mansion she was in now, but after they had tossed her onto the stone floor and slammed the door in her face she had stopped. She was screaming in her mind and begging for help, but knew that it was useless to plead with her captors.

Two women had entered the room to find an emotionless shell of a girl sitting in the middle of the floor staring into space. As they were removing her dirty, torn clothes and redressing her in a white dress, she took them in. One was pale right down to her hair and eyes; the other was darkness. She noticed that the blonde woman was being kind to her silently: looks of pity paired with gentle hands. The black haired woman wasn't being particularly kind or gentle, and Alex felt that she recognized her from somewhere.

She was spared from enduring the dark woman any longer when she suddenly clutched her forearm. With a nod at the blonde woman, she walked stiffly out the door. The remaining woman turned to her long hair, beginning to fix it up in an elaborate design.

They continued in silence, until the woman finally spoke, "I'm Narcissa."

Alex considered not saying anything, but decided that she needed as many allies as she could get if this was to be her new life, "Alexandrea."

Narcissa nodded, and Alex turned back to the ring on her hand. She had been trying to get it off since she became conscious. They had somehow spelled it onto her finger, and nothing that she had tried would make it come off. She could get out of this situation easily if she had magic, but the ring disabled it. So she continued to try no matter how many disappoints she had to endure.

She watched Narcissa in the mirror, and was struck by how similar her features were to the other woman. She racked her brain for why they seemed familiar to her, and suddenly a conversation with Sirius came into her mind. Her eyes snapped up to look at the woman who she suspected was Sirius's cousin, "You are a Black?"

Narcissa's eyes met hers in the mirror, "I was."

Alex muttered mostly to herself, "Yes, he said you married a Malfoy."

"Who said anything about me to you?" Narcissa had a dangerous look about her now.

It was hard to keep the look of pain and utter sorrow out of her eyes when she thought about him, "Sirius."

"How do you know Sirius?" Narcissa asked in surprise. She stopped when she caught sight of the girl in front of her. Apparently Alex hadn't been able to keep her emotions hidden as well as the thought she had. The look of shock on Narcissa's face became more prominent, "Does he love you, too?"

She was saved answering when the dark woman came in, followed by a pale man who looked eerily like Narcissa. "She had better be ready, Cissa. The Dark Lord wants her now," the man placed a perfectly manicured hand on Narcissa's shoulder.

Narcissa turned to face him, "Of course, dear. Am I required to be present?"

The man rose a pale eyebrow, "He didn't say one way or the other."

She smiled at him, "I think I shall go tend to Draco now. I'm not comfortable leaving him alone when there are so many..._people_...here."

He ran his hand down Narcissa's back as he removed it from her shoulder, then he turned to the other woman, "Bellatrix, help me escort the bride."

Even as Alex hissed, the dark haired woman grabbed her arm painfully, "My pleasure, Lucius."

Alex was dragged down the hall as she watched the closest thing she had to an ally disappear into another room. She fumbled with the ring on her finger desperately, but it wouldn't budge. She tried to struggle against her captors, but her physical strength had been zapped much like her magic. Before she could think of an alternate plan to escape, she was drug into a room full of people.

They all bowed as she was carried by them, but she was too caught up in trying to escape to notice anything else. Suddenly her captor's hands left her, and she looked up from the ring in surprise. What she saw made her heart drop and her stomach threaten to lurch out of her mouth. She gagged in an attempt to control herself as she stared at the thing in front of her. She tried to run, but her feet where spelled to the floor and she couldn't move them.

The creature in front of her was the subject of peoples' worst nightmares. Red eyes bored into her from a gruesome face. His skin was scaley and wrinkled. Long fingers reached up to caress the side of her face, and she couldn't move back far enough to get away from the touch. She felt the dry skin scrape along her cheek, and wanted desperately to cry out. However, she couldn't produce any sound at all.

She stared helplessly and hopelessly as the man who was apparently the priest started speaking. She couldn't understand the words. All of her senses seemed to be shutting down except for her sight, and her eyes were firmly fixed in horror at the groom. She watched as he spoke, but couldn't understand his words. Suddenly he was staring at her, and she didn't know what to do.

In abject horror she realized that she was expected to take her vows now. She refused to speak, but felt the pressure in her mind to say the words. She realized that someone had put her under the Imperius Curse, but even knowing it couldn't help her fight it. She resisted it, but even through the fierce internal struggle she felt her mouth open to say the binding words.

--------------------

A/N: Oh dear, a cliffhanger! Don't worry, though, the next chapter should be out fairly soon. I just couldn't tack the next part onto this one without it turning into a confusing mess by going back and forth in time.


	9. Bubbles Obscuring His View

1A/N: Kind of a gory chapter to begin with...**most** of the time not the nice dreamboat Sirius we all love to read about. If someone is desperate enough they'll do whatever it takes...

Chapter Nine

Many people had tried to convince themselves over the years that Sirius Black wasn't something to be afraid of. They all told themselves that his reputation was blown way out of proportion, and that truthfully such a young wizard wouldn't be a threat at all. When faced with the full force of his anger, however, they soon learned that the worst thing they could possibly do was to underestimate him.

Two death eaters deep in the bowels of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were learning that lesson the hard way. They were currently pinned very painfully to a stone wall while Sirius Black was eyeing them up and down, presumably trying to decide the best - or worst, depending on which side of the fence you're on - way to get what he wanted out of them. There was no one around to hear them if they called for help, and most likely no one would help them even if they did hear.

"This would be a hell of a lot easier on you if you'd just tell me what I want to know," Sirius informed his two prisoners coolly. The two men looked at each other fearfully, but still refused to speak. Sirius sighed dramatically, "Very well." He cast a particularly horrendous curse at the eldest death eater. He thought that the younger one would be easier to crack.

The cursed man screamed and writhed against the wall, trying his best to get free. The younger man looked on in horror, finally losing his cool, "Stop it! Make it stop! You're going to kill him!"

Sirius laughed outright, "That's the idea, isn't it? Either I kill you or you kill me. It's what enemies do. I mean it isn't as if either of you are going to **help** me..." He trailed off suggestively. The young man continued to look on as his companion was tortured mercilessly. Sirius was watching, too, looking for any sign that he was going to get the information he wanted.

When faced with pain, wizards and witches often create wild, uncontrollable magic in an attempt to escape. This was the case with the shrieking death eater, as a burst of magic released one of his hands from the spell holding it against the wall. His free hand immediately went to the one that was still bound, clawing at it trying to get free. The younger one looked full of the hope of escape, and Sirius felt that he needed to crush those hopes if he was going to get what he wanted. A simple spell sent a spike through the still sobbing death eater's free hand and the stone behind it, pinning it bloodily to the wall once again. The man's blood curdling scream caused Sirius to wince, but the young death eater was in too much shock to notice.

"I suppose it's your turn then," Sirius aimed his wand levelly at the young death eater.

His eyes were wide with fear, "**No! Don't do it! I'll tell you! I will! Don't hurt me!**" The screams even drowned out the other man's.

Sirius lowered his wand, "Good. Tell me now, you won't get another chance."

"It's at Malfoy Manor," he said in a rush.

Sirius's eyes narrowed dangerously, causing the man to squirm, "You're sure?" The man nodded emphatically. Sirius couldn't sense any lies coming from the young man, so he killed him painlessly. The screaming death eater was quickly put out of his misery, also, and Sirius incinerated both of the bodies and cleaned up the mess. It wouldn't do for anyone to find this crime scene, he'd be pegged as crazy and out of control for sure. He was disgusted at his own actions, but desperate times call for desperate measures. He reminded himself that all is fair in love and...**no! Not love!**...war...everything is fair in war! He tried to convince himself of that even while he teleported.

--------------------

Malfoy Manor wasn't a very pleasant place. If Sirius would have taken the time to think about it, he would have come to the conclusion that it was the perfect place to hold death eater meetings. As it was, he was not thinking about anything other than getting to Alex before she was married off to Voldemort. He wanted nothing more than to storm violently into the meeting and rip apart anyone who got in his way. He wasn't crazy enough to do that, however, and instead he moved stealthily through a floor length window into the building.

Sirius found himself in a library, but didn't waste time admiring the Malfoys' extensive collection of rare and ancient texts as he moved out into a wide corridor. He was using Padfoot's enhanced senses to try and figure out where exactly the meeting was, but there were scents of people going in all directions. He couldn't hear anything, but he figured that there were Silencing Charms up anyways.

"_Sirius!_" he stopped in his tracks when he heard the whisper. He turned around quickly, and spotted a person who he never thought of seeing. Although, now that he was thinking about it, it was quite obvious that she would be here. Narcissa Malfoy was motioning him into a room. He listened for any sign of other people around then, but couldn't hear anything. He couldn't sense any of the signs of dishonesty coming from his cousin, and he walked cautiously into the room.

Narcissa started talking animatedly as soon the door behind him was closed, "They're making her marry the Dark Lord, Sirius! It's just horrible, isn't it!"

Sirius held his hand up to make her stop, "You're helping me?"

"Of course I am!" she shot him a confused look, "I might be forced to do a lot of things for the sake of my son's life, but that doesn't make me evil. I thought you knew me better than that."

He nodded his head, if he was going through all of this just to save a girl then he could only imagine what a mother would do to make sure her baby was out of harm's way. "Where is she, Narcissa?"

"The ballroom," she looked on in disbelief as he started to storm out of the room, "You can't just go in there! There are death eaters in there. The Dark Lord himself is there!"

"What would you have me do?" he asked furiously.

"Can't you just wait until later? I'm sure there will be chances for you to rescue her when she's alone!" the woman pleaded with him.

He turned on her, "You want me to leave her to get married to Voldemort! Leave her to get raped by him! You're off your fucking rocker!" He didn't wait for her to respond or react, he left the room quickly. There was no way he was going to let Alex go through that Hell.

He knew where the ballroom was from past visits during his childhood. He made his way there without hesitance, but his mind was racing. He had no idea how he was going to get them both out of here alive. He considered himself lucky that none of the death eaters turned to look when he cracked open the door. They were all looking raptly in one direction, and Sirius followed their gazes to see what was so interesting.

What he saw made his blood run cold. Voldemort was standing in front of a priest, who looked automated like he was under the Imperius Curse. Alex was standing before him, not moving at all. He was just in time to hear the priest ask her for her vows. He didn't stop to think as he stormed into the room. It took the death eaters a few seconds to react; by the time they realized what was happening many of them were already dead. Sirius felt no qualms about using the Killing Curse on these people. He didn't even stop to think about it as he cut down death eater after death eater.

He felt the power crackling around him, and gave credit to the uncontrollable magic for shielding him from any of the curses flying around him. It had protected him before, and he was trusting it to protect him again. He slashed his way through death eater after death eater, trying to get to Alex as quickly as possible. He looked up in time to see her mouth open. He cried out, trying his best to get her attention before the Imperius Curse made her say the vows.

He felt a surge of helpless desperation seize him when she didn't respond to him. He felt magic flow out of him at these feelings, and when it hit the couple before the priest they both spun to look at him. He couldn't hear anything except for the magic crackling around him, but he saw his name form on Alex's lips even as Voldemort yelled out in fury. Whatever his wild magic had done, it had had some kind of effect on the girl. She snapped out of whatever daze she had been in and began to rush toward him. He felt numerous spells on her shatter as the uncontrollable force of magic swarmed around her.

He saw the look of disbelief fall over Voldemort's face, but it was quickly replaced with a look of unconstrained rage. He knew what the Dark Lord was going to do as if he was hearing the thoughts straight from the source. If he couldn't have Alex's power, then no one could. He was going to kill her.

Sirius ignored the rushing sound in his ears as he scrambled forward. He just had to touch her and he could teleport them out of here. She seemed a million miles away, and suddenly it was like they were in slow motion while everything around them sped up. He watched as a beam of green light came from Voldemort's wand and headed straight for Alex's back, and he knew it was the Killing Curse. He felt himself yell a warning to her, but didn't know if any sound actually came out. Whether or not he had anything to do with it, she dove to the ground and the curse hit the wall instead, blasting a huge hole in the ancient stone.

He continued to try to get to Alex as the world rushed around him. He watched as she dodged curses in slow motion, and he almost screamed when he saw Voldemort cast a curse in her direction yet again as she dove to the ground . He ran faster than he thought possible as he watched her spin around and watch the curse come toward her. Her mouth opened in a scream, and he didn't hesitate as he threw himself in front of her. No thought went into what kind of curse it was, or what it would do to him. The only thought running through his mind was saving her, and he didn't even know why he would do that.

As he fell to the ground sound came rushing back in a torrent. There were yells of outrage coming from all directions, but the sound that got to him the most was Alex's sobbing. Even as he could hear again, his vision blurred from the pain coursing through him. He couldn't think, couldn't react, couldn't do anything but feel wave after wave of pain running through him like lightening.

He heard Alex scream as he heard footsteps nearing them. Through the pain he knew he had to get them out of here. They were going to die if they stayed here any longer. He summoned all of the strength he could manage, ignoring the fire running through his veins. He hoped to every force out there that he could think of to give him the strength to make the teleporting work even as he lost consciousness.

--------------------

Sirius awoke slowly and painfully. Even through his grogginess he felt like someone had tossed a dragon onto his chest. He fought to take in breath as he tried to remember what the hell was going on. Flashes of death eaters and killing curses took over his mind, and he sat up in shock. He immediately regretted it as he felt like he'd been shot with a muggle gun and he couldn't get any air into his lungs.

After regaining his breath, he looked around almost in fright. He breathed a sigh of relief at being in his own living room - and immediately felt the repercussions as his chest ached. He suddenly realized that Alex was supposed to be with him, and looked around frantically trying to find her. He swore his heart skipped a beat in his aching chest when he finally spotted her.

She was huddled in the far corner of the room with her knees pressed into her chest. She was staring off into space, not moving at all. He fought through the pain, and eventually managed to get up and make it over to her and kneel down beside her, "Alex?" She didn't respond, so he tried again, "Are you okay?...Alex?"

Even after several tries she still wouldn't answer him. She didn't even look at him when he snapped his fingers in front of her face. He moved into the catatonic girl's line of sight, and she seemed to stare right through his chest. He was getting worried, so he decided to risk freaking her out and reached forward slowly to touch her. As he gently lifted her chin so that her sight was level with his, her almost turquoise eyes came into focus and met his stormy grey ones.

"Are you going to be alright?" he spoke gently, almost in a whisper. She stared into his eyes for a moment longer, before tears welled up in them. She suddenly flung herself at him, and he ignored the terrible pain in his chest as she sobbed into his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her as she wrapped hers around his neck. Sirius didn't know how long they stayed like that. He'd moved to lean against the wall as he cradled her in his lap like a child, rocking her gently back and forth while her tears soaked into his shirt.

Eventually her tears subsided and all that was left was her ragged breathing against his neck. Sirius gritted his teeth through the pain, and managed to stand up without crying out with Alex still cradled against his chest. He headed for the bathroom, figuring that a warm bath would do her good.

--------------------

Alex had watched as Sirius took the curse meant for her, had felt him land on top of her legs when he fell. She had snapped her eyes firmly shut when Voldemort advanced on them, fully expecting pain. The pain had never come, and her eyes had snapped open when she felt herself fly through the air and land heavily on a hard surface. She had opened her eyes only to realize that she was in someone's living room and that there were no death eaters anywhere to be seen.

Sirius was lying on the floor, and she thought that he was dead. The full impact of what had happened hit her like a ton of bricks. She screamed and screamed and screamed, until her throat was dry and her voice was hoarse. When she couldn't scream anymore, she dissolved into tears. She had scrambled away from Sirius, not stopping until her back hit a wall and she couldn't move any further. She had averted her eyes from his sprawled out form on the floor. Her mind shut down as everything that had happened ran through it.

The next thing that she remembered was looking into Sirius's eyes. She had stared at him in shock, unable to process that he was really in front of her. After she had fully realized that Sirius was indeed alive, she hadn't been able to stop herself from crying in relief. She just wanted to touch him to confirm to herself that he was real, so she had flung herself into his arms. The tears of relief had changed into tears of release as all of the images flooded her mind again. The next thing that Alex was aware of was being lifted up. She raised her head from Sirius's shoulder to look around as he carried her to a door at the end of the hall.

As she looked around the bathroom, Sirius spoke into her ear, "I thought you might want a bath."

She didn't respond to him. She had caught sight of herself in the full length mirror, and wasn't able to look away. She pushed away from Sirius, and he set her on the floor as she struggled out of his grip. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. The wedding gown was beautiful, and she had never seen a more elaborate hair style. It made her sick to her stomach. She had been made into a doll for Voldemort to admire. She felt dizzy thinking about it.

She felt Sirius's arms wrap around her, keeping her from falling. She had never felt so weak in her entire life. She quickly lifted her hand to examine the ring. Sirius's hand captured hers as he brought it closer to himself to inspect, "Another one?"

"It won't come off," she informed him, a tremor that she couldn't control entering her voice.

After they had both tried as many things as they could think of to remove the ring from her finger, and everything had failed, he spoke again, "We'll go to Dumbledore as soon as the castle is secured again. He may not be my favorite person in the world, but he sure as hell knows his magic."

Alex nodded in agreement, "I want a bath."

He smiled at her, "I guess you'll want to borrow some clothes?" He didn't wait for her answer before he stepped out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

She had lost track of the time she spent in the bath. She had scrubbed every speck of dirt off of herself vigorously, but she still felt dirty. Voldemort had touched her, had almost **married** her. She had almost let herself be controlled. How could she have let that happen? Tears were streaming silently down her face when Sirius barged into the room. Her naked state didn't seem to faze him, though it certainly made her uncomfortable in spite of the bubbles obscuring his view.

She stared wide-eyed at him, and he rushed to explain himself, "I knocked but you didn't answer!" He then noticed the redness of her eyes and the wetness on her cheeks, and moved forward to kneel beside her, "Alex, you're safe now. No one's going to hurt you."

Alex's mind was spinning as he spoke to her, but even through that haze she realized that he had winced in pain when he rushed forward and dropped to his knees. "You're hurt!"

He dropped his gaze down to his own chest, "I don't think it's that bad."

"You don't _think_?" her voice was shrill with disbelief. Forgetting her modesty in the wake of Sirius's injury, she grabbed a towel, wrapping it around herself as she stood from the protection of the water. "Take off your shirt," she ordered him harshly.

He gaped at her incredulously, "**What?**"

She leveled him with a glare, and he followed her orders with wide eyes. What she saw made her gasp. He cried out when she gingerly touched the bruise that covered his entire chest. She jerked her hand back and looked up in time to see the pain in his face, "Sirius, it is bad." She procured bandages from him, and proceeded to wrap his ribs carefully. After several gasps of pain, she finally asked him if he was alright.

He nodded his head, "I'll be fine." He cut her off before she could interrupt him, "I've gotten in touch with an old colleague, and he says that it'll be safe for us to go talk to Dumbledore tomorrow. We should get some sleep until then."

She nodded, and turned away from him shyly, the fact that she was in nothing but a towel with a shirtless Sirius Black in front of her finally sinking in. "Would you mind...?" she gestured at the door. He got the message, and muttered apologies as he scrambled out the door. If there was one thing that she thought she'd never see, it was Sirius in an awkward position.

--------------------

A few minutes later, Alex strode out of the bathroom with a glint in her eyes. She strode up to Sirius, who was nursing a glass of some unidentifiable substance in the kitchen, and tossed the white dress that she carried in her hands at him. Despite being caught by surprise, he managed to catch it with one hand without spilling his drink or losing his breath from the injury. He stared at her with questioning eyes, and she spoke harshly, "I want you to burn it. I would have, but I don't have any magic right now."

No sooner had the words left her mouth than the dress went up in flames. She watched it intensely until it was just a pile of ashes on the kitchen floor. Sirius muttered a spell, and soon enough there weren't even ashes left. Alex felt extremely better now that that was taken care of.

She trained her gaze back on the handsome man sitting at the table and tried not to stare at his shirtless chest as she asked, "Where should I sleep?" He stood without a word, and led her back down the hallway. He opened the door to his bedroom, and ushered her inside. Sirius tucked her in like a child, and even though Alex normally would have ripped his head off for the gesture, she found that right now she didn't mind at all.

He leaned down close to her face, "Nothing is going to hurt you now. You do know that, right?"

She nodded, and he kissed her lightly on the lips before turning back to the door. Alex debated with herself as she watched him shut the door behind him. Just before the door completely closed, she called out, "Sirius?"

His head emerged back through the doorway, "Yes?"

"Where are you going to sleep?" she asked.

He rose an eyebrow at her, "On the couch. Why?"

Alex twisted the sheet between her fingers nervously as she refused to meet his gaze, "Will you stay here with me?" His mouth dropped opened, and she quickly confirmed what she meant, "I don't want to **_do_** anything. I just don't want to be alone."

He came fully into the room, closing the door behind him, and stepped up to the bed. "That's good, because I don't think I'd be able to with these ribs...but what if I just **can't** behave?" he asked, giving her an intense look.

"Sirius!" he laughed at her exclamation.

He lifted the covers and slid in next to her, "I was only joking, Alex. You know that you can trust me." As he put an arm around her and she laid down gently on his shoulder - being careful to avoid his injury - she knew that she could.

--------------------

When Sirius woke up the next morning, he was immediately aware of the tiny body pressing into his side. He turned his head, and was met with a mass of white-blonde hair. He shifted slightly so that he could see her face, and found that he couldn't stop staring at her. What was wrong with him? He'd willingly thrown himself in front of a curse, and now **he** was busy comforting **her!** It made no sense at all, since he most certainly did **not** love her! The arguing voice in his head was quickly squished into the farthest corner of his mind.

She woke up and their eyes met, perfect time to be staring at her with an almost quizzical look on his face. She hastily pushed herself off of him, "What?"

He shrugged lightly, "Nothing, just thinking. What would you like for breakfast?"

He was infinitely glad when she went along with his quite obvious change in the subject, "What are my choices?"

"Well, you have three," he informed her with a grin, "I can try not to burn the place down while making toast, we can stop on the way and get something greasy and completely bad for us, or we can hurry and hope we don't miss breakfast at the school."

"I'm really not that hungry, Sirius. Just have whatever you like," she said lightly.

Sirius propped himself up on his elbows, "Are you kidding me? Have you even looked at yourself lately? You have to eat **something** !" There really was nothing to her. Looking back, he realized that he had only ever seen her eat once, and then she'd picked at her food more than she ate it.

She bristled, and he realized that she had interpreted it as an insult, "I don't **have** to do anything! It isn't as if you have any right to be a part of my life!"

He blinked, "What happened to you being mine to touch? You know, the big fancy prophecy thing? Didn't we already have this discussion?"

"Yes, we did!" if looks could kill Sirius Black would have been blown into tiny bits and incinerated, "If I recall correctly, **you** ran out on me!"

Understanding dawned in his eyes, "I was afraid. You can't base how I feel on my first reaction to being told that I'm officially tied down."

She stared at him, "How do you feel, then?"

"I've almost gotten myself killed more than once for you, I've done really stupid things just to make sure that you're okay, I let you sleep in my bed without touching you," he took a deep breath, "and I've been up all fucking morning just looking at you. I care for you more than I've ever cared for a girl, but I don't know if I love you. I don't even know if I'm capable of love like you expect it to be." **Liar!** the traitorous voice in his head was being extra active, but he didn't acknowledge it.

Alex observed him carefully. The normally cool and collected man was twisting the sheets in his hands and refusing to meet her gaze. She smiled, "Despite not exactly fantasizing about the word "fuck" being in this conversation, I guess I can live with that."

Sirius finally looked at her, "We don't even know each other. We don't know the simplest things, like each other's ages, for example. There are things about me that might make you want to forget this whole prophecy thing."

"Like what?" she asked. He was almost dreading telling her.

His eyes met hers, and he knew that she could see the inner struggle he was having with himself. Finally he sighed, "You want the worst of it? I'm an assassin, and I've done more illegal things and made more enemies than many of the death eaters I go after."

She considered him briefly, before saying, "Life doesn't hold the same meaning for me as it does for most people and my entire life has revolved around illegal magic, so it doesn't bother me." He didn't really want to know what she meant by life meaning something different to her.

Sirius looked at her for a moment before grinning and rolling out of bed. He began talking animatedly, but was cut off abruptly, "I don't suppose that those are battle wounds?"

He turned to look at her with confusion written all over his face, "What?" He reached out to look into her thoughts, and was assaulted with an image of freshly formed fingernail marks along his shoulder blades. His eyes widened, "Alex...I..."

She cut him off weakly, "I thought you cared for me? I _trusted_ you!"

"It was a mistake! I do care for you or I wouldn't have said it!" he was making frantic gestures with his hands and speaking quickly trying to get her to understand, "It happened before the battle at Hogwarts started. I didn't want anything to do with you because I was so afraid of being controlled, and I was trying to run from any commitment I felt towards you."

"That makes me feel phenomenally better, Sirius. You can't even begin to imagine how much I love to hear that you want nothing to do with me!" Alex was quickly becoming hysterical.

He reached for her, but she recoiled. He ran a hand through his hair, "You don't understand! When I heard what was happening to you, I went out of my mind. When I thought you were going to die, I can't even begin to describe what I felt! It was a mistake I made before I realized that you meant something to me. Right now I don't know what exactly it is that you mean to me, but I know that I'm not going to go off and sleep around with other girls. I'm trying not to run anymore!" If she never wanted to see him again after this, he was going to have to drop to his knees and beg her to stay.

She was still glaring at him, and when he tried to touch her hand she struck out against him. He cried out and clutched at his chest when she made contact with it. The full force of the pain came back instantly. He stumbled away from her, leaning against the wall before sliding down into a sitting position. He was gasping for breath, and he had gone significantly more pale than usual.

Alex's eyes widened, and she scrambled off of the bed to kneel down beside him. She reached out to comfort him, but he shoved her away forcefully. He didn't need anyone touching him right now. She regained her balance and sat back on her heels as she watched him fight for air through the pain.

"I'm so sorry, Sirius," she whispered as his eyes started to tear up.

After what seemed like an entire lifetime, he regained a semblance of control. He had his eyes squeezed shut to stop any tears from falling, but he finally opened them to look at her, "It was my fault."

She shook her head vigorously, "No, it was mine! I hurt you!"

Sirius grinned lightly, "I've had much worse. You really must stop putting me first, Alex. I'm sorry for everything I did. This whole mess is my fault. I'm saying I'm sorry because I am sorry. I don't expect you to ever forgive me." The sad part was, he really **had** endured much worse.

"I will forgive you if you'll forgive me. You really don't owe me anything at all, but I really did harm you," she looked at him sadly.

He shook his head at her, "No, I did and I still do owe you something. Can we just put this whole incident behind us? I don't think either of us **meant** to hurt each other."

Alex nodded her head. She stood up and offered him a hand. He accepted her offer, and she let him lean on her as they headed for the kitchen to see whether or not he really was capable of starting a fire by making toast.

--------------------

A/N: Some severe "mood swings" in this chapter, I know. The next several chapters should tie up some loose ends so that I can start writing more along the lines of the events in the books, so they shouldn't take too long for me to get through. We are fast approaching the point where this story was actually supposed to start in the first place before I changed my mind, so it's getting easier and easier for me to write (knocks on wood). Let's hope that my muse stays this active!


	10. Add Insult to Injury

1A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to update. Real life was a little too hectic to just go off and write whenever I felt like it. There is a major jump in time in this chapter because I figured I would write one big chapter instead of several little ones just to keep things easier on myself. I hate breaking off to save and then getting started again on a new chapter complete with an introduction when I'm in the middle of a serious writing spell. As for why there is a jump in time in the first place, I'm just not creative enough to write every single little event that happens in detail, plus it would get **very** boring and **very** long. Therefore, I skipped ahead and kind of over-viewed. There is a small note at the end explaining some things that my friends (who get to read these before I post them) asked me about.

Chapter Ten

Fifteen minutes later found the duo walking slowly towards the Great Hall at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft the Wizardry. Sirius was in an abnormally quiet mood. His mind was working too quickly to carry on conversation. He had attempted to put on coffee that morning - preferring it when it was actually brewed instead of influenced by magic - but had blown up the coffee maker. Alexandrea had fallen into peals of laughter and asked him if he was really that horrible in the kitchen, but he was too shocked to say anything to her.

He had experimentally tried out several other muggle appliances, and had broken all of them beyond repair. However, when he had pulled out several magical objects - which he may or may not be authorized to have - they had all worked wonderfully. Better than they normally worked even. He had resolved to suck it up and ask Dumbledore after they got Alex sorted out, but that didn't make him any less hungry at present, something he was reminded of when his stomach growled loudly and felt like it had turned over on itself.

He knew that he was worrying the girl beside him. She hadn't complained, but he knew that she was worried for his well-being. He turned his head to look at her, and was struck for the umpteenth time that morning by how beautiful she was. He had transfigured clothes for her to wear - making them show a little skin on purpose - and he found that he was quite pleased with the result. He was spared having to comfort her about his silence when she veered them off to the right suddenly and his shoulder collided with something hard. He spun his head around to see that he had run into the door of the Great Hall.

Alex raised an eyebrow at him, "I thought that you would, perhaps, like to **open** the door. That is how these things work, is it not?"

Sirius ignored the obvious sarcasm rolling off of her in waves. The girl just loved to add insult to injury. He opened the door and walked through as he glared at her playfully. The entire Great Hall went silent when he entered, and he rose his own eyebrow in confusion. He didn't suppose they had heard about his taking advantage of a student or about his torturing death eaters in their school, since he wasn't being mobbed. That conclusion just left him wondering exactly what the hell was going on. He glared around the room, and suddenly his eyes came to a shrieking halt. There, sitting at the very end of the staff table, was Severus Snape.

Dumbledore stood, "We should take this to my office. Professor McGonagall if you would take care of the announcements?" The old wizard didn't wait for an answer as he left the room. Sirius followed numbly. What the **hell** was going on that a death eater was eating at the staff table in the middle of the students' breakfast?

As soon as the door to the headmaster's office was closed, Sirius lost it, "What the fuck was that!"

"It is none of your business, Sirius," Dumbledore said calmly, "You forfeited that right when you resigned from the Order."

Sirius laughed, "Oh, that's rich! When I'm in the Order you hold it over my head so I'll risk my own life, and when I'm not in the Order you hold it over my head so that I'll let you risk students' lives."

"I would never risk my students' lives!" Dumbledore had turned on Sirius without the usual twinkle in his eyes.

"No, because refusing to meet Voldemort out in the open and then letting a death eater run around your castle is definitely in the best interest of the students isn't it?" Sirius never lost his cold tone.

If Sirius didn't have an exceptionally strong will, Dumbledore's glare would have made him back down, "This is my school, they are my students, and Severus is under my control. You, Mr. Black, have absolutely nothing to worry about, and you have no authority here even if you do worry."

Sirius was about to retort, when Alex put a hand on his elbow. He turned to look at her - she was staring straight at the headmaster. "We are only here for one reason, and you can both have your battle for dominance after I get my powers back," she gave Sirius a look that was clearly a warning not to interfere, "Now, I hear that you are an expert on magical objects. Perhaps you can tell me how to remove this?" She extended her hand towards the older wizard.

Sirius could tell that Dumbledore's interest was peaked, "This is the one that was thrown into the forest?"

She looked at it distastefully, "No, it's a different one. This one won't budge from its position."

The headmaster looked her straight in the eye, "Who gave it to you?"

"Voldemort," Alex spat the name out.

After examining her hand and casting a few spells that Sirius couldn't see the effects of, Dumbledore sighed, "I don't think that you will be able to remove it until the prophecy is fulfilled." Seeing the look on her face, he explained, "All prophecies are kept on record at the Ministry, they are just very hard to get your hands on. My best guess is that Voldemort put this on you so that you would have no power to escape or resist until he had control of you." Sirius made a mental note to tell Alex that she really needed to block her thoughts when she was around Dumbledore.

Alex turned back to Sirius, "I want to leave now."

"Um, okay," he was too caught up in his own thoughts to resist her wishes. She had to have sex with someone to get her magic and strength back. There was no way she was going to be binding herself to anyone else, so that meant that he was going to have to be the one. Sirius wasn't sure that he was ready for that. Hell, he wasn't even sure he wanted it! What if she wanted to go home and do it right now!

He was starting to panic, but was suddenly snapped out of it when something tugged desperately on his arm. He looked up only to meet Alex's own fearful eyes. The stared at each other until Dumbledore spoke, "Sirius Black! Control yourself!"

He tore his eyes away from hers, and saw that the office was a mess. The magical objects scattered around the room were going off uncontrollably, and the papers on the desk looked like they had been blown askew by wind. His eyes widened, and he used all of his willpower to reign in the power that was radiating off of him. His magic was really getting out of control.

After the whirlwind had been put under control, the headmaster turned to glare at him, "I do not think that the best way to deal with your anger is by destroying my personal belongings."

"I didn't mean to, actually," Sirius said, still staring at Alex, who seemed exceptionally guilty, "It would be nice to have some answers."

The girl lowered her head so he couldn't catch her eyes, and all he could see as she spoke was a crown of almost silver hair, "We found each other, but we haven't done anything about it. It's all of your..." she trailed off looking for the right word,"...**_primal_** energy going out of control because it can't have what it needs."

"And what does it need?" he was almost reluctant to hear the answer.

"If we ever...connect...then our power will connect, too. Our magic is calling each other, and it won't settle down until the two halves joins each other. My energy would be out of control, also, if I didn't have this damned ring," she was still looking at anything but him.

He used the arm she was clutching to subtly pull her closer so that she would realize that he wasn't rejecting her just yet, then he turned back to Dumbledore. Now that Alex knew what was up with the ring, he decided that he still wasn't done with their earlier conversation, "So, Dumbledore, you do realize that death eaters can get in this castle anytime they wish?"

"The wards are perfectly secure," the man said, obviously thinking that he was calling a bluff.

"Then I would love for you to explain why I was able to kill two death eaters who were coming from the middle of the castle heading for the outside instead of the other way around. They were using tunnels," Sirius was unconcerned with what Dumbledore thought, he just wanted the information out in the open so that if anything happened he wouldn't feel that he had caused it by not telling anyone about the breech in security. Damned conscience. "Do what you want with the information, Dumbledore. Like you said, it isn't my problem."

With a last look at the now pensive face of the headmaster, Sirius teleported them away.

--------------------

Alex had no idea where they were, but they had been there for hours. Sirius had been in a horrible mood since they'd arrived. She was coming to realize that when he was in his worst moods he was disturbingly quiet instead of being loud and extremely obnoxious. He was currently sitting in front of a window staring into space, like he had been for the past hour. It was getting ridiculous.

She sighed and sat down beside him. He didn't acknowledge her, so she raised a hand to his cheek and turned his head so she could look at him properly. "Tell me what's wrong before I come to the conclusion that you are ignoring me on purpose."

He finally met her gaze, and she briefly wondered how anyone's eyes could convey so much. There was a war between anguish, confusion, anger, and pain going on in them. He noticed the look of shock in her eyes, and jerked away as he turned back around, "I don't think you want to know."

"I want to know everything. Sirius, you have to tell someone before you go crazy and do something you'll regret," she tried to coax him into saying something, "If you don't want to tell me then at least go talk to one of your friends."

"I can't!" he snapped.

Now she was genuinely confused, "Why not?"

He sighed heavily, "One of them is a traitor...There were two death eaters last night who came through a tunnel that I'm pretty sure no one else knows about. I just don't know which one of them would do it."

Alex knew she could never relate to what he must be going through. She'd never been close enough to anyone to know what it was like when a friend betrayed you. She decided to give him what help she could, "It isn't the one you introduced me to. There weren't any bad thoughts at all coming from him. At least not unless too many noble thoughts make you nauseous."

"I do try not to pry into his mind too often because of that," a ghost of a grin flickered across Sirius's face, "Yes, I know it isn't James, I never doubted him. I still can't talk to him, though, because he would never believe that Remus or Peter would betray the Marauders."

"I'm sorry to say it, Sirius, but has it crossed your mind that maybe the two of them are in it together?"

He shook his head, "No, there is no way those two could work together like this. Unless they've been planning this since we were eleven and spent almost ten years fooling James and me, they can't stand to depend on only each other for long. They love each other, don't get me wrong, they just annoy the hell out of each other. That just leaves me trying to decide if the one feeling underappreciated enough to turn to Voldemort is Remus, who is too smart for his own good, or Peter, who is too stupid for his own good."

They sat in silence for a while, Alex trying to offer what comfort she could to him. She soon realized that he was still too tense to have gotten everything off of his chest, and she turned her eyes back towards him. "There is something else."

Anger flashed across his face, "**_Snivillus_**."

"What?" she was completely lost.

"Snape, that's what! That stupid, fucking **death eater** has managed to weasel his way into Hogwarts! He has Dumbledore protecting him for some reason, but I know that he hasn't suddenly turned over a new leaf," Sirius was bristling with indignation, and she didn't interrupt his rant, "That greasy bastard was definitely ready to kill me earlier, and the only thing that's happened between now and then is that Dumbledore failed to turn him in! That damned old man trusts too easily! Snivillus saw the perfect opportunity to get in with the Order, and he took it! I should have killed him when I had the chance!"

Alex rubbed a hand down his back comfortingly, "Why don't you kill him now?"

He turned to see if she was serious, and when he realized she was, he said, "Dumbledore would suspect me immediately and have the Ministry after me. I'm sure he's been looking for a way to turn me in without breaking his oath not to say anything after he found out that I'm the big assassin everyone's been looking for."

"It isn't your fault that the horrible old man thinks there's something wrong with killing outside of the battlefield. People are too closed-minded about what's right and what's wrong," she said regretfully, "It doesn't matter that so many lives were saved by taking a few."

He had been leaning into her touch, and his face was mere inches away from hers when he lowered his voice to speak, "At least I have you on my side. That has to count for something."

Alex's eyes widened when he looked into them. She couldn't look away, and she couldn't have pulled away even if she had wanted to when he leaned in to kiss her. She could feel his energy pulling at her when their lips met, and she felt her own straining to get to him through the binds that kept it from doing so. She blocked out all thoughts other than what it felt like to have him this close to her. He suddenly broke away from her mouth and moved to her neck. She snapped back to reality and realized that he had moved her to lay on her back on the couch, and that he was leaning over her.

She felt uneasy at the current situation, but soon forgot about it when he let his hands start running down her sides soothingly. For someone who had only experienced her first kiss weeks ago, she was definitely moving fast. With something akin to awe, she took in the feeling of his lips moving over her neck and moving dangerously low towards her chest as his hands ran over her body. She was almost enjoying it too much to realize that it was probably a bad idea that his hands were inching closer to her waistband.

She was suddenly very aware of that fact, however, and gasped out the words, "Sirius, we can't."

His lips left her just long enough to get out, "Why not?" before he placed them back where they had been before.

"It would mean forever, and you don't want that," she wouldn't meet his eyes when he pulled away from her. She turned her head to the side when he got up without a word. She snapped her eyes shut when she heard the door close, and muffled a scream with a nearby pillow. Why did he always have to leave instead of just saying what was on his mind!

--------------------

Sirius had flown around aimlessly for a while, with no clue what he wanted to do to take his mind off of everything. He had finally turned back to think of the past when everyone was more or less happy. That had eventually made him think of Narcissa, and he had suddenly realized that he didn't know if she was alright. He hadn't even spared a thought to the fact that one of his favorite cousins might be dead.

Now he was standing in the apparation parlor of Malfoy Manor hoping to all things holy that Narcissa trying to help him hadn't been discovered. A house elf came in almost immediately after he appeared, and he congratulated himself on his wonderful choice in disguise as it squeaked fearfully, "Mistress Lestrange! You is being here to see Mistress Malfoy! Come, come, Doffy will take you!" The face of Bellatrix Lestrange was lit up with a grin of satisfaction as Sirius thanked the fact that there weren't any house elves in the house Regulus had let the death eaters use. He had just gone back there and sniffed around until he found the room dear Cousin Bella had used. There were still strands of hair on her pillow. He'd always figured that death eaters would be too paranoid to leave hairs lying about, but he was immensely glad that he was wrong about her.

He was led through many lavish corridors of the mansion before the house elf went in a door and announced to the occupant that Mistress Lestrange was being there to see Mistress. Sirius had strode into the room, and stared pointedly at the house elf. Narcissa had gotten the message and quickly dismissed it. Once it was gone, Sirius said, "Finally!" Narcissa looked shocked that a masculine voice was coming from her sister, but Sirius ignored her and drank the contents of a vial that he had pulled from somewhere in his robes.

He quickly transfigured his clothes back to normal before the transformation began, and in a matter of seconds he was back to himself. "It's really strange being a woman," he informed Narcissa with an over dramatic shudder.

The woman realized that her mouth was hanging open indecently, and she snapped it shut before speaking in a hushed voice, "Sirius! What are you doing here!"

"Seeing if you're alright, of course," he didn't bother to whisper, "Oh, come on, Narcissa, you know me better than to think that I don't have a Silencing Charm up already."

Sirius suddenly found himself with an armful of sobbing female, "Oh, I'm so glad that you're alright! I thought for sure that you were going to die!"

He patted her back comfortingly, "It hurts that you have so little trust in me!"

"You rushed into a room full of death eaters!" she was suddenly furious, "Voldemort himself was in that room, and you just ran right in without thinking! You're lucky that everything is alright!"

He sighed, "But it isn't alright. Everything's shooting straight to Hell!"

Sirius was struck by how quickly emotional females can go through mood swings when Narcissa was suddenly dragging him to the nearest sofa, "What's wrong, Sirius?"

She shoved him down forcefully before sitting near him and placing a pillow in her lap. Memories of past heart-to-hearts with his cousin came to mind, and he laid his head in her lap as he started speaking. He told her all about Dumbledore and Snape, how one of the men he considered a brother was really a traitor, and finally he told her about Alex.

She stroked his hair as he spoke, and when he finally quieted down, she thought about what she could say to him. She knew that there was nothing she could say to comfort Sirius about death eaters and traitors, so she focused on something she knew, "That girl is in love with you, you know."

His eyes snapped to her face, "What!"

"Don't act so surprised, Sirius. You act as though you think that it's impossible for anyone to love you," she met his stare, "She showed no emotion at all until you were mentioned, and I could tell right away that she loves you."

"She can't love me!" he exclaimed, but when he got no refute of Narcissa's previous statement he continued, "Why would she love me! I'm a horrible, rude, perverted, cruel man!"

The blonde woman smiled at him, "So you **do** love her! You never answered earlier, but now I know. You wouldn't try to protect a girl who is willing to fall into bed with you from yourself if you didn't." Sirius shot off of the couch, and started pacing around the room. Narcissa's smile widened, "Sirius, just go!"

He spun around to stare at her for a second, and then he was gone.

--------------------

about a month later 

Sirius had gone back to Alex prepared to grovel on his knees to get her to forgive him for running out yet again. She had surprised him by cutting him off mid-apology and saying that she didn't need to hear it. After that they had settled into a comfortable routine. They had stayed in the same place - which was a secret of the firstborns of the Black family - because Sirius was still protecting Alex from Voldemort and whatever other cults and covens were after her. They slept together like they had the first night after the battle because she had nightmares when she was alone. They had tried to sleep apart a few times, but she always came crawling into his bed in the middle of the night anyway, so they just gave up. Despite their sleeping arrangement, they hadn't done anything beyond snogging, but there had been a huge amount of that. They spent their days in each other's company: talking, reading, eating, walking, flying, dancing, or whatever else caught their fancy.

Sirius had realized weeks ago that Narcissa was right on both counts. She loved him, and even more surprising, he loved her, too. The only problem was that he still hadn't told her. Every time he started to say something, he would change his mind at the last second and steer off into a completely safe and platonic subject. He was cursing himself for being a coward, but still couldn't do anything about it. Even though he knew that he loved her and that he would die for her, or kill for her if that was the case, he was still afraid of forever.

He hadn't had so much fun since he'd graduated from Hogwarts, but his mind was still troubled. He hadn't forgotten about any of the troubles in the world beyond their hideaway. He talked to his friends often, especially James. He had warned his best friend about Snape, and casually mentioned how the death eaters seemed to know a lot about their plans, but he never said outright that he thought Remus or Peter was a traitor. On the full moon, Alex had insisted that he join the others for their run. She was sure that if he interacted with the whole group together he could get a better idea about who was the spy, but both of his suspects acted equally suspicious to him. He had made it back the next morning to see that Alex hadn't slept in his absence anymore than he had while running, and they had spent the rest of the day catching up on that sleep.

Sirius had also paid a visit to Mad-Eye Moody. He had told him about Snivillus just incase Dumbledore was hiding it from the rest of the Order, and wasn't surprised to hear that he was right. Moody agreed with him whole-heartedly about the light side trusting too easily. Sirius had also made the decision to tell his mentor about the spy. Moody was the only person he had told specifically about his suspicions, and the old auror had agreed to keep an eye out for any information.

He still left many nights to hunt death eaters, but that was the only contact he had directly with the war. His friends and his mentor kept him informed on the happenings of the Order, but he never interfered even when he thought that they were going about things the entirely wrong way. He almost forgot that there was real danger to anyone he loved, until James contacted him with their old mirrors one night. He begged Sirius to come to Godric's Hollow, and Sirius found himself suddenly pulled right back into the middle of the conflict.

"Harry? Little Harry? Kill Voldemort?" Sirius was staring incredulously at the baby.

Lily sniffled, and James sighed heavily, "Yes."

Sirius pointed at the sleeping infant, "**This** Harry? Are you sure!"

Lily hissed at him, "Yes, Black! This Harry...**my baby**. Stop asking questions and help us!"

"Don't you jump down my throat, **Evans**," Sirius reciprocated her usage of his last name, "I just found out that my godson is in some mad prophecy, and you don't think that I have every right to be shocked?"

"While you're busy being shocked, Voldemort could be hunting him down!" the woman was in full on mother-bear mode, not that Sirius blamed her one little bit.

James suddenly stood up, "Stop it! This isn't the time to argue with each other!"

Sirius held up his hands in surrender, "I'm sorry, Prongs, Lillian. What do you want me to do? You know I'd do anything to keep Harry safe."

The next few hours were spent discussing the plan. Going through the ends and outs of the Fidelius Charm was a long and trying process. Sirius assured his friends that he would do it, that he wasn't afraid. He truly was afraid, not of running from Voldemort or of dying, but of endangering Alex. He smiled and told the Potters that he had a place to go, but really he was agonizing over what he was going to have to do. He kept on his confident and caring face...his friends had enough to worry about right now without having to worry about him. He was their friend, James' best man, Harry's godfather, and a Marauder, and he would be damned if he wasn't going to do everything in his power to help them. No matter if his heart was shattering into a million tiny little pieces while he was doing it.

"I'm so glad you're here, Sirius," Lily declared as she embraced him, the arguments of the past quickly forgotten, "Albus begged us to let him do it, but James insisted on you. Now I can see why he wanted you."

Sirius forced a smile. That damned headmaster and his damned view of right and wrong, of course he would think that it was Sirius who would put his best friends in danger. "Don't worry about it, Lillian. I wouldn't do anything to keep your family in harm's way if I was offered the world." He knew that he was telling the truth, no matter how it was killing him inside.

--------------------

A/N: We're quickly rushing into the books and to the inevitable happening to Sirius (everyone knows what I mean so I won't say it). I plan on updating with the next chapter in way less time than this one took, but I won't swear on my life.

Now to the questions that my friends had: Yes, I know that Lucius and Narcissa graduated just when the Marauders were starting their school careers, but it's one of those things that I decided to conveniently forget. Also, I realize that there isn't an antidote for the Polyjuice Potion mentioned, but theoretically there is something to cause an opposite reaction to everything that happens. I figured that they could make antidotes much the same way they do for other potions. Plus, when aurors catch a criminal under the effects of the potion they might not want to wait for up to an hour to figure out who they are, so I assume there has to be something to counter it.


	11. Are You Scared, Mr Black?

A/N: Even though it took longer than I'd hoped it would due to circumstances that couldn't be helped, I am glad to finally post this chapter. I hope that you can forgive the delay. It's kind of a quick change of scenery at the beginning, but I couldn't make it work when I used a ton of detail, so I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out and hope that you will be, too.

Chapter Eleven

Sirius located Alex immediately after appearing back at their house. She didn't notice him (the ring had also impaired her normally extraordinary senses), so he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She tensed, but soon realized that it was him and relaxed into the embrace. He realized that he was staring at her a little too intensely, but he couldn't stop himself. After today he had to leave. They might not ever see each other again if he spent the next few decades of his life running from Voldemort until Harry could kill him. The only other outcome was if he got himself killed before then.

He leaned forward and kissed her suddenly, then pulled back with a grin, "Let's go somewhere." He just needed to get out of this house. The memories of the past month weren't making his decision to leave any easier.

She was out of breath, and she stared at him like he had gone crazy, "Where?"

"Anywhere you want to go. Pick somewhere," he bent to kiss her neck.

She smiled, "There's a place I've been wanting to show you. There is something there that I think you'll like."

"Really? What?" he was genuinely interested. Alex never mentioned anything unless she had a good reason to.

She stood and pulled on his hands until he followed suit, "You will see." She led him to the library and stopped in front of the magical map that was hanging on the wall. He zeroed it in on the location she said, and she pointed to a spot, "There."

Sirius rose an eyebrow, "There's nothing there to go to." The map was showing nothing but woods. The closest settlement wasn't even showing up on the map.

"I want to go there," she insisted.

He shrugged, "Well, I did promise." He teleported them to her location, and immediately thought that he'd somehow gotten it wrong. "That wasn't on the map!"

Alex ignored his exclamation, "Oh, it's awful! It's the most depressing building I've ever seen." She was gazing up at the dark, decrepit mansion that overlooked the dark woods that were surrounding them.

The whole place really was depressing. The house was made of old stone and was infested with vines and weeds. There were broken windows, and not one light could be seen through them. The tall, dense trees surrounded them on every side and blocked out most of the sun. The entire place was gloomy and quite frightening.

Sirius looked around uneasily, "Why the hell did you want to come **here**?"

"This isn't the place I wanted to show you," she said simply.

"Well, why didn't you say so? I thought I'd gotten it wrong," he took her hand to try again, but she jerked it away.

She spun around in front of him, took his hand, and started pulling him into the trees, "What I wanted to show you is this way."

His eyes widened, "In there?"

"Mr. Black, are you scared?" she placed a look of disbelief on her face.

He snorted indignantly, "No!"

Alex grinned, "Good."

Sirius kept his mouth shut the rest of the time she was leading him through the trees. He was uncomfortable being here, and he was also more than a little curious about when she'd been here before. It looked like no one had been around for centuries. She didn't seem affected by the evil-looking trees, and kept walking as if she knew exactly where she was going. He had no doubt that she **did** know.

His suspicions were confirmed when she stopped suddenly and spun around to face him, "Close your eyes." He did as he was told and felt her move behind him. He felt her hands close over his eyes, and she informed him, "Just to be sure that you don't peak." He grinned, she knew him too well.

He was nudged, and he began moving slowly forward until she stopped him. Alex removed her hands, and he immediately opened his eyes. The sight that greeted him was a welcome and very surprising change from the old house. They were in a bright clearing surrounded by green trees and many variations of beautiful flowers that Sirius had never seen before. In the center was a completely clear spring being fed by a sparkling waterfall.

Alex took his arm, "Do you like it?"

He looked down at her hopeful face, and realized that she really wasn't sure if he did or not. He quickly moved to reassure her, "It's gorgeous. How is something so beautiful in the middle of something so horrible?" Her smile beamed up at him.

"It's magic," she said simply, "I found it when I was very young...I think it wanted me to find it."

He leaned down and kissed her, "It's amazing."

He was taken by surprise when her hand moved to the back of his neck and she pulled him back down to her lips. She had never taken the initiative before, and he could do little else but kiss her back. Not that he even thought of resisting her.

After a while, she broke away for breath. He took the opportunity to ask, "How do you know about the house?"

She sucked in a breath, and he hugged her to his chest to calm her down. Finally, she answered quietly, "I grew up there."

Sirius sucked in air himself in an attempt not to gasp outright. Alex had told him about her past, and he had come to the conclusion that her childhood was a million times worse than his. If she had grown up there, then that was also the place where she had killed the man she considered a father. He tried to think of something to say, but was cut off when she changed the subject, "Sirius?"

"Yeah?" he pulled back so he could look at her.

Her teal eyes met his gray ones, "What was wrong earlier?"

He took a shuddering breath, "I...," it was hard to tell her, but he took a deep breath and started again, "I have to leave in the morning."

"Why?" she asked.

"Voldemort is after the Potters, and I have to help hide them. A prophecy says that the baby is the one who is going to defeat him," he broke eye contact with her guiltily. He was leaving her for them, and even though he knew that he had to help his friends, he still knew that he owed something to the girl beside him.

He watched realization cross her face out of the corner of his eye, and she choked out, "You...you're not coming back? You're leaving me?"

Sirius knew that they were rhetorical questions, she already knew the answers. He whispered, "I'm sorry."

She struggled out of his arms, "**No, you're not!**" Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks, and her next statement was so quiet he barely heard it, "You don't care at all."

He felt a pain settle in his chest that he'd never felt before. He scrambled forward to grab her shoulders and force her to look at him, "I do care!"

"You don't leave the ones you care about," she whispered.

"Alex, you have no idea how much I want to stay with you. I can't because Voldemort will be after me. I'm going to constantly be on the run, and I can't let you be in the middle of it," he begged her to understand. He wouldn't be able to focus on anything if she hated him when he left.

She had jerked out of his grip and sunk onto the ground. She curled herself up into a ball, bringing her knees up to her chin and hugging her legs to her chest. He had never felt so horrible in his entire life. He had to make her understand. All of the fears he'd had in the past disappeared, and he dropped down in front of her with a sigh, "God, Alex, I love you."

Her head snapped up from her knees, and she stared at him with an expression he'd never seen before. "What?" she breathed out.

Now that he'd said it once, he found that it was the easiest thing in the world. He looked her in the eye, "I love you."

"I love you, Sirius," she sobbed. Sirius was at her side immediately, and she threw herself into his arms. He kissed her with all of the pent up emotion of the last month. This definitely wasn't going to make leaving any easier.

--------------------

Alex had never felt so happy before. She had the really cliche thought that she was floating. She nuzzled into Sirius's neck, "Say it again."

He ran his hands down her back, "I love you." The same tingle of excitement rushed through her veins.

"Mmm...again," she demanded.

She could feel his body shake as a laughed, "I love you, you demanding bitch."

She swatted at his arms, "Be nice to the woman you love."

"If I must!" he feigned exasperation.

The continued to cuddle up in silent contentment until Alex stood suddenly, "Come on, I'm going to show you that thing I was talking about."

"You mean this isn't it?" Sirius asked in shock.

She pulled him to the edge of the spring with a mischievous smile, "No, this is." She shoved him into the water without warning, then broke out into laughter. She hadn't thought that it would be that easy. He almost never let his guard down.

He came up spluttering for air, "What the hell!"

She shushed him as she entered the spring herself, "Can't you feel it?" She herself felt a sensation against her the second her foot touched the water.

"Feel what?" he asked, but soon enough his eyes widened. He stared at her in surprise, "What is it?"

"I don't know," she moved deeper into the pool, where the feeling was stronger, "Some sort of magical energy, I suppose. This place does strike me as spectacularly magical."

She watched him take in the feeling of power zipping along his skin. She had been just as surprised as he was the first time she had ventured into the pool. There's nothing like having bursts of energy unexpectedly engulf you. He suddenly reached for her, and claimed her mouth in a ferocious kiss. She kissed him back desperately. If Alex was asked to pick her favorite thing about spending so much time with Sirius Black, it would be kissing him.

The only thing she could think about was this possibly being the last time they were together. If anything happened to him she wouldn't be far behind, and she knew it. When his hands started struggling to reach under her shirt, which was quite difficult to do underwater, she made up her mind. She reached for the first button on the offending garment, and soon the shirt was halfway undone. She met his wide eyes as she guided his hands to the remaining buttons. There wasn't going to be any turning back on her part.

--------------------

Sirius couldn't seem to do much else but stare at Alex as she led him to remove her top. He was almost afraid to touch her when it was finally off, but being a male given an opportunity, he pushed those thoughts away almost as soon as they appeared. He was still torn inside, though. He wanted this to go further more than almost anything else in the world, but he didn't want her to submit just in an attempt to make him change his mind and stay.

When her hands found the hem of his shirt, he finally gave in and spoke, "Are you planning on finishing what you're starting, Love?" He voiced the nickname that he'd been secretly referring to her as in his head, and she sighed contentedly.

"Yes," the affirmation was barely perceptible.

He looked her in the eye, "It won't mean I can stay."

"It isn't supposed to," her voice gained confidence, "I just can't let you go without doing this."

"Without having me remove that ring?" he asked, hoping she denied it. He needed to know exactly what her motivations were.

She stared at him as though he had slapped her, "No! How could you think that I'm only using you to gain power? I want to do this because I'm not waiting until I'm an old maid and you decide you might want to find me!"

He grinned, but it was soon replaced with a serious expression, "Alex, I need you to do this because you want to, not because you think it will solve all of our problems."

"This is all I want right now, Sirius," her voice was sure.

He abruptly stopped all conversation with a kiss. By the time they broke away for breath, his own energy was adding to the energy in the pool and creating an almost painful sensation along their skin. He carried her to the edge and lifted her out, her shirt floating forgotten in the water. He rushed to join her on the bank, but stopped short of kissing her again when he caught sight of her.

Her damp hair was spilling all around her, showing up brilliantly silver against the grass. Her lips were slightly parted, and she was watching his movements with ever observant eyes that were sparkling madly. Water was running off of her upper body, drawing even more attention to the area - not that Sirius needed a handcrafted invitation printed in gold to make him stare, anyway.

He felt the sudden need to feel her skin against his, and removed his shirt himself before bending to claim her lips in another kiss. The kiss was unlike anything he'd ever done before. He was pouring himself into it, trying to make her feel what he felt for her. He felt his own energy pouring into her, and was aware of her power trying to get to him. She seemed too nervous to do anything, but his hands were freely roaming over her. When he felt her hands clutching his back, he decided to take things further.

A moan escaped Alex's throat and her arms tightened around him when he trailed his hands lightly up her inner thighs. He stopped teasing her and reached for the button on her skirt as he raised his head to look at her face, "Are you sure?" Her eyes were wide, but she nodded emphatically. He undid the button and pulled down the zipper slowly to give her time to change her mind. When she didn't protest, he slowly pulled the skirt down, following the path down her toned legs the whole time. He finally let his gaze trail back up, and saw that she was watching him.

She was making no move to cover herself even though she didn't look very comfortable under his gaze. Sirius leaned down, and realized that he'd surprised her by ignoring her mouth and instead aiming for her collar bone. He dropped kisses along her shoulder, moving lower as he went. She tensed as he closed in on her chest, but made no move to stop him. He grinned as he realized that she trusted him enough to let him do what he wanted.

Soon enough protesting against him was the farthest thing from her mind. She was making inarticulate sounds and pressing into his touch as he chased water droplets with his tongue. He played his game until he felt that she was relaxed enough, and then trailed a hand lower.

He stopped his movements and looked up at her face when she tensed, "Nervous, Love?"

She looked him in the eye, "No." He smirked and moved his hand dangerously lower. Her eyes widened, but she didn't flinch again. Sirius continued to move his hand lower as he lowered his head to her skin again and worked his way back up to her lips. After a long kiss, she pushed him away.

He looked down in surprise, "You want me to stop?" He honestly didn't know if he could just sit back and let her get redressed at this point. If she asked him to do that then Merlin help anyone who even remotely looked like a good target tonight.

"I want to look at you," she continued to push him until he obliged and rose to his knees. She followed him up to the same position.

He raised an eyebrow and started to make a remark, but the words got stuck in his throat when her lips suddenly met his neck. Her kiss was unsure and a little shy, but when he sighed in contentment she gained confidence. She became more bold as time went on with his encouraging her, and she surprised him when she pulled away one again.

His protests were soon placated when one of her small hands came up to trace the tattoo over his heart. He involuntarily tensed at her cold fingers running over his chest, but she didn't pull away. He watched as she traced the ink, his eyes following her hands as they moved across the expanse of his chest and to his arms. She alternated between tracing tattoos and outlining muscles, following him as he moved to sit down and lean against a nearby tree.

Sirius's encouragement made Alex grow more confident the longer time went on, and eventually she was straddling his legs as she explored. She managed to surprise him yet again when she moved her hands from his chest downwards toward his stomach. He watched with anticipation of how far she would go as she traced along his abs.

She stopped when she reached his jeans, and looked up at him with wide eyes, "Sirius..." She sounded unsure of herself.

His breathing was shallow, and he was staring at her like she was mad, "Alex, for the love of Merlin don't stop."

She laughed softly, her hands resuming their path. He was getting impatient as she played with the button of his jeans, but she made no move to undo it. He couldn't stay still, and began to let his hands roam over her body as he was waiting for her to make a move. Finally he felt the pressure ease as the jeans were undone, and he sighed in relief. It quickly turned into a groan as a cold hand timidly moved against his flesh.

His groan was met by her going still. He opened his eyes to look at her, "I thought you weren't nervous?"

She leaned against him with her head on his shoulder, but didn't remove her hand. "I wasn't," she snapped.

"You are now?" he was genuinely amused despite the rather distracting circumstances.

She sighed, "I've never...you're..." he started laughing outright, and her head snapped up to look at him, "Sirius!"

He smiled and brought her hand up to play with the ring on her finger, "Do you want to see what we can do to get this off?" She tensed, but he wouldn't let her leave. He pulled her close to him again, "Trust me, Love."

--------------------

Alex had decided immediately that she trusted him. His term of endearment for her might have helped speed up her decision a bit, but she knew that she would have given in even if he'd called her a horrible name. Trusting Sirius Black was never a predictable thing to do, and it got Alex unceremoniously tossed onto her back in the soft grass. If that hadn't shocked her system enough, having his weight suddenly over her ensured that she was too shocked to respond.

She forgot to think about what the proper response might be when his mouth moved to her chest again. That paired with the wondrous things his hands could do made thinking the last thing she wanted to do at the moment anyways aside from stopping. Just when the feelings she was experienced began to be overwhelming, he suddenly stopped and moved back up to kiss her lips. Alex suddenly realized that he'd somehow managed to lose every last bit of clothing in the last few minutes. Her eyes snapped opened.

Even in her surprise, she must have still managed to convey a sense of severe disappointment because he laughed and said, "I'm not about to let you get off for the first time like that, Love. You don't get to do that until I get to be inside you."

Alex knew that her eyes were widened to an almost comical point, but she couldn't help it. No one had ever said something so..._scandalous_ to her before. She realized that what he had said was relatively tame compared to the things he could have said, but that didn't help her reaction any. The revelation that the past few minutes had served no purpose other than to get her to relax and grant him access was made extremely clear to her when he used her distraction to his advantage. She suddenly felt pain between her legs, and she snapped her eyes shut.

She heard his groan even as she won the battle not to cry out herself. He stilled immediately after he started, and she felt kisses being applied to her neck. He was muttering things into her ear that she couldn't quite make out, but the tone of his voice was enough to calm her. She tried to relax and concentrate on the good feelings that were hiding right behind the bad ones.

Sirius suddenly demanded that she open her eyes, and she complied. She met his eyes as he spoke, "This thing is forever now, right? We're forever?"

The soothing sound of his voice saying that they were forever was enough to make her heart leap in her chest, and she could only manage a small nod. She clutched his shoulders as she let thoughts of them staying young and happy together enter her mind. She closed her eyes again, and felt one of her hands being dislodged from its place. She opened her eyes to watch as one of his hands fiddled with hers, and he said, "So I guess this means this will come off now."

Power suddenly enveloped her, and she realized with a start that it was her own magic. She watched as he tossed the ring he had taken off of her hand into the woods just as she had done with the other one. For the first time, she felt their magic meet. The energy around them was more intense than it had ever been. She realized that the pain that had previously settled between her legs wasn't anywhere near what it had been before. Thank Merlin for the soothing power of magic.

Now that the obstacle of pain was all but gone, Alex was all too aware of the fact that their bodies were connected. She looked up at his face, and saw that his jaw was clenched in effort. She realized that it was from the effort not to move now that the magic was magnifying all pleasurable feelings. She replaced her hands on his shoulders, and moved experimentally. She bit back a moan, but he didn't bother to try muffling any noises that he made. She did it again, and this time she didn't try to smother her reaction.

Sirius suddenly swooped down to capture her lips, and through the renewed burst of energy she felt him pressing further into her. She made a gurgling sound in the back of her throat and didn't even think about it as her legs moved of their own volition to grant him more room. He didn't bother with the same shy, experimental movements that she had started with. He moved expertly against her, using his hands to lift her hips to different angles until the sudden digging of fingernails into his skin told him that he'd found the right spot.

Alex was under the impression that she had died and gone to heaven. All of the new feelings were unlike anything she had ever felt before. Sirius was whispering things into her ear that would normally mortify her, but she found that she didn't mind the dirty words at all at this point. All thinking came to an abrupt halt when he moved against a spot inside her that she hadn't even realized existed. Her entire world fell apart and everything went dark except for flashes of light before her eyes. She couldn't remember anything except for how this felt, not even her own name if she bothered to try and remember it. The only thing that she did seem capable of remembering was the name of the man above her, and she was aware of calling it out quite a few times.

When the world came crashing back down around her, she was met by an out of breath Sirius. He was panting, and she automatically released her hold on his back to push his dripping hair out of his face. When his hair was successfully removed from his face, she saw that his normally gray eyes were a rather impressive black. He was staring at her in awe as he moved again, and he lowered his head close to her ear to tell her how amazing she felt.

She blushed, although she didn't know why. They were currently sweaty and naked against each other, and had been for a while now, yet the thing that embarrassed her the most was him telling her what it felt like to him. After a rather raunchy description left his mouth sometime later, an idea suddenly struck Alex. She experimentally squeezed the muscles that she'd never realized existed until earlier in the evening, and watched as his mouth fell open.

A steam of rather colorful words, some of which she had spent the entire month getting him to stop saying, tumbled out of his mouth. She didn't mind, however. On the contrary, she grinned as she felt pride take over at her ability to do this to him, and she did it again. He suddenly moved into her harder, and it was her turn to let her mouth fall open. She was suddenly aware of a hand sliding down her body, and she glanced down. Her gaze glued on the spot where they were connected. He followed her stare to see what she was looking at, and another stream of curses left his mouth as he moved even more erratically.

Without warning, Alex felt sensation sweep her up for the second time that night. Another completely new sensation of warmth combined with the other feelings, and she heard her name on his lips even as his left hers. When she came down this time, she opened her eyes only to meet his intense gaze. They stared at each other, losing track of time. She started gasping for air, and he moved off of her with a reluctant sigh. She mirrored his feelings, and made a noise of disappointment when he withdrew to lie at her side.

His arm was suddenly around her, and she was pulled to rest on his chest. She couldn't speak to save her life, but he managed to mutter, "Holy Hell." She made a sound of agreement, and his arms tightened around her. She felt as the rise and fall of his chest became slower and more regular, and listened as his heartbeat reduced. She didn't know if he was still awake at this point, but she was soon lulled to sleep herself.

--------------------

When Alex woke up, the first thing she was aware of was the bed of soft grass under her instead of Sirius's hard chest. She opened her eyes and sat up quickly, looking around frantically. He was nowhere to be seen. She didn't suppress the sob that was torn from her throat. He was gone.

She lay back down and stared at the sun peaking through the dense trees. She couldn't stop the tears from coming anymore than she could stop the sobs from wracking her body. He had told her that making love wouldn't stop him from leaving, and she hadn't even expected it to. That didn't help to ease the shock of him really being gone, though. He hadn't even said goodbye, hadn't bothered to wake her up. Another wave of agony hit her, and she realize that it wasn't completely hers.

She remembered their connection with a start. Their power was connected now, they could feel each other at all times. She felt mildly better knowing that her pain had caused him to feel pain in return. It meant that he did care, that he wasn't just using her to make himself pretty much invincible when faced with spells. That thought only made her feel even more hopeful. The only thing that could hurt him was if he was deprived of some vital body part, but most spells couldn't kill him. Even the Killing Curse shouldn't be able to kill him since his life was anchored in him and not able to be sucked out through supernatural means that were much weaker than their combined power.

She had thought about it a lot during her time with Sirius, when she was just hoping that he would lay claim to her. Voldemort must know everything. He would have had a death eater marry her if he just wanted control of her, but by wanting to marry her himself it proved that he knew of the benefits he would receive. She felt her heart drop again as the full realization that Voldemort knew his favorite spells couldn't kill Sirius hit her. She tried to block all of the thoughts out; they were just something her mind was using to take her thoughts away from Sirius's departure.

She quickly came to the conclusion that almost anything was better than thinking about him actually leaving her. The tears that had all but gone away came back with full force, and she didn't even try to stop crying. Time passed by slowly, and she wasn't even able to wager a guess as to how long she stayed that way. When she was finally able to pull herself together, the sun was higher in the sky than when she had woken up. She sat up again to take in her situation, and saw that Sirius had dried her clothes and folded them up neatly beside her.

She bypassed them, however, and headed straight for the spring. The magic soothed her significantly. Though she was still brokenhearted, she was at least calm now. She felt a wave of satisfaction hit her as the water healed soreness that she hadn't even realized was that big of a deal. She closed her eyes as she was reminded of the reason for her aches and pains. Memories of the night before assaulted her, and she had to drag herself away from the spring before she stayed there forever.

Alex smiled wistfully as she used magic to dry herself. The magic wasn't as important to her as it had been only yesterday. If it meant having him with her always, she would gladly give up power forever. She shook her head to rid her mind of those traitorous thoughts, and bent to retrieve her clothes. She stopped short when she saw an envelope laying on top of the pile.

She picked it up quickly, and tore into it. She poured the contents onto the ground as she kneeled down, only to come up with numerous keys. Upon further inspection, she realized that there were many house keys. She smiled, but it soon faded when she caught sight of a key off to the side of the others. It was the key to his vault. Fresh tears appeared as Alex realized what that meant. By giving her access to his money, he was letting her know that he wasn't coming back. He was giving her the means to care for herself because he wasn't going to be there to do it.

Alex dressed stiffly, shrinking the envelope full of keys and shoving it into her pocket. She had several mansions and numerous giant houses which also happened to be full of expensive and even priceless items, as well as a key to one of the wealthiest vaults in the wizarding world, yet she had nothing. All that she had left was hope that Sirius Black would come to his senses and come back to her, that he would let her join him. And hope was nowhere near enough to comfort her.

--------------------

A/N: And so begins the inevitable part of any Sirius Black story that even mildly follows along with the books. At least they got a happy before the bad stuff starts to happen. I myself will be using thatfor comfort throughout the nextsection of the story. Just a hint...good reviews make me happy! When I'm happy I'm more inclined to write! I'll leave it up to you to use that information however you want.


	12. Elusive Captain of the Obvious

1A/N: I skipped around in time in this chapter. Everyone already knows the story of Halloween night 1981, and the week or so leading up to it anyway. Not really any point in me completely butchering J.K. Rowling's wonderful storyline there. I've just added a few things because there were always some elements I wished would have been more fully explained, like why Sirius thought Remus was the traitor, for example, and what led him to even think up his elaborate plan in the first place.

Chapter Twelve

Whoever said that life isn't fair should be given the Order of Merlin, First Class, for his or her impressive ability to come to obvious conclusions. Sirius had come up with a plan to corner the elusive captain of the obvious and deliver the Order of Merlin himself if he survived this war. At the moment, however, he resigned himself to knocking back shots of Fire Whiskey as if he really didn't plan on having another chance to do so. He couldn't remember a time when he'd felt so wretched.

He'd actually gone through with this plan that was likely to get him killed before the month was out. Perhaps the worst part of all, he'd left Alex. He hadn't even had the courage to stick around until she woke up because he knew that he wouldn't have been able to leave if she had asked him to stay. He'd actually told the girl that he loved her, and then left her. Well, she wasn't a girl anymore, despite her seventeen years. That thought brought on the first grin he'd had on his face since leaving the Potter's house the afternoon before. It was soon wiped off when another feeling of brokenheartedness hit him out of nowhere, and he threw back an umpteenth shot of the potent liquid in an attempt to get her out of his head. There was no way in Hell he was going to be able to concentrate like this.

He was content to drink and brood for a good while, until someone suddenly took the seat beside him. He didn't bother to look at the person since it was normally safe to assume that anyone taking a seat beside him in an almost empty bar wanted something. He spat out, "Not interested. Go the fuck away."

"Oh, how you hurt me, Pads!" came a familiar timbre.

Sirius snapped his head around to meet the amused face of one Remus Lupin. "I'm not in the mood for conversation, Remus."

His friend - or was he? Sirius was still on the fence about it - looked suddenly serious, "I gathered that from your rather friendly greeting. Want to talk about it?"

"Didn't I just say I didn't want to talk?" Sirius bit out moodily.

"Well that's too bad. I came to this hell hole just to find you," Remus was in no way backing off, Sirius recognized his interrogating voice. He sighed and waited for it to come, which didn't take long, "Why did you agree to hide James and Lily?"

Sirius didn't turn back to face the man beside him, "I'm not doing it to hide James or Lily. I'm hiding Harry."

"Why?" Remus inquired.

"If they didn't tell you then I'm not going to," he took another shot.

Remus actually sounded offended when he next spoke, "I wasn't asking why he needed hiding! I was asking why you agreed to do it!"

Sirius reached for the bottle of Fire Whiskey to refill his glass, "I'm his godfather, it's my job to protect him. Not to mention the fact that James is my best friend." He honestly didn't care that his statements would probably hurt the man beside him. It had caused a rift when he was chosen as godfather, plus they had always said that they were all best friends together.

Remus sighed, "I think it would be better if someone else did it. I mean the death eaters are going to attack you anyway, everyone knows it'll be you. If someone else did it then at least they wouldn't find Godric's Hollow if they get to you."

Sirius tensed, "Why do you assume that the death eaters will automatically come after me? Isn't Dumbledore the most obvious choice of all?"

"Well, sure, but they also know that James trusts you the most out of anyone," Remus replied.

"How would they know anything about the relationships in our group?" Sirius was truly livid now. It was taking all of his self-restraint not to attack the man beside him. He was becoming more and more suspicious of Remus. This whole conversation was leaning in the direction of Sirius changing his mind, and he could just take three guesses about who would be the first person to jump in and volunteer to take his place.

Remus was suddenly on his feet, "You can risk your own life all you want, but don't go around risking everyone else's lives!"

Sirius was on his feet just as soon as the words left Remus's mouth, the calming effect of Fire Whiskey losing its hold on him as anger rushed through his veins. "And I guess you would just love to jump in and take my place, wouldn't you! What's so important to you that you would try to get me to switch! You know damn well that I'm the person who has the most experience at getting around unnoticed!"

The werewolf's attitude suddenly deflated, "Sirius, I didn't mean it like that! I'm just trying to think of what's best! Dumbledore should do it if anyone does!"

Sirius didn't buy the sudden backtrack at all. He teleported himself away from the bar, forgetting all about the liquor from earlier. His mind was working furiously...Remus was the spy. He wanted to be the secret keeper so he could carry the secret straight to Voldemort. There was no way Sirius could let **that** happen. He started forming his plan even as he walked up the drive to knock on the Potters' door.

--------------------

(around a week later. October 31, 1981)

Convincing James and Lily to switch hadn't been such a difficult task. James was easily won over, and the infamous persuasive powers of Sirius Black backing up her husband's puppy dog eyes had gotten to Lily soon enough. Sirius hadn't gone so far as to tell anyone that he thought Remus was a spy, but he had taken Peter aside and convinced him that it would be best not to have any contact with him. Well, actually he'd told him that it was best if the secret was kept among just the four people directly involved and that it was less dangerous if he didn't talk to anyone else at all, but that had served Sirius's purpose of keeping Remus away just fine. Remus had tried to contact Sirius a few times in the past week, but he had done an admirable job of avoiding him each time.

Other than being ecstatic that the Potters were safely tucked away, Sirius really had nothing good going for him anymore. He was hiding, he was bored, and he missed Alex. The last thing was the worst. He was able to feel her loneliness and despair, but he couldn't be there to comfort her. Not to mention the fact that he couldn't stop the dreams he had about her. He really wasn't someone who was used to not getting to live out the dreams he had right when he woke up. There was usually someone there, and now that there wasn't he was so frustrated that he couldn't keep his mind off of sex. It was ridiculous even for him.

Halloween seemed to bring out the worst, however, because he didn't have any particularly erotic dreams about Alex. Even given how frustrating they were, he would have rather had one of those than the nightmares he had instead. In fact, Alex only had a sort of cameo in his dream, which was disturbing enough given the fact that he'd dreamed she was in pain and alone. The majority of the dream had been about the Potters. He'd dreamed that something was wrong at Godric's Hollow.

He'd shot up with a gasp, sweating and panting like he'd run a marathon. The most horrible feeling was in Sirius's chest. It was like something was pressing on his lungs and squeezing around his heart. He rolled out of bed as soon as he had caught enough breath to forgo dizziness and wheezing. He yanked on a pair of trousers and threw on the first wrinkled shirt he came across on the floor, and began the search for his shoes. After a few seconds of fruitless searching, he suddenly realized that he was a rather powerful wizard and simply summoned them.

He couldn't coax his motorbike into going any faster, and it still wasn't fast enough for him. He cursed himself for putting up so many protective charms around Peter's location. He wasn't even able to teleport within a huge radius of the hiding spot. The minutes ticked by way too fast, and the bad feeling in his chest escalated to an almost unbearable level. When he finally landed, he didn't even allow for a complete stop before he jumped off, not caring that his precious motorbike skidded to a stop on its side as he was running for the door.

He'd been expecting to have to knock the door down if he wanted to get in at such a late hour, but was more than a little surprised when it was unlocked. He didn't hesitate to run through it, only taking time out to bring on some of Padfoot's heightened senses to aid him. He was even more surprised when he skidded to a halt in the living room of the quaint little house. He was completely shocked into near stupidity, actually, and couldn't seem to make a thought come. Not a single piece of furniture was out of place. In fact, given Peter's tendency to clutter and never pick up after himself, the place looked like he had never even inhabited it.

Sirius blinked several times, hoping that when he opened his eyes there would be a different picture. He even gave into the cliche and pinched himself to make sure he wasn't still having a nightmare. He wasn't.

"**Fuck!**" that exclamation was followed by a steady stream of profanity as he ran as fast as he could back out of the house.

He wasn't sure which he felt more: anger, guilt, or helplessness. As he was streaking back into the sky, Sirius decided that guilt wouldn't do him any good and that he wasn't helpless yet. That only left him with anger...the pure, hot, blinding kind. He turned his head for one last look at Wormtail's house, and made a decision. The house shot up in flames the next second, which was followed by an explosion. When the noise died down, Sirius heard enraged screaming and realized that it was his own.

----------------------

Death. Blood and death. **Torture**, blood, and death. The more Alex thought about it, the more things she added to her list of what the Ministry deserved. The only emotions she had been able to feel for the past weeks were rage and despair. They wouldn't let her in to see him, they wouldn't tell whether or not he had confessed, and they had told her that there was no need for a trial.

She knew that Sirius hadn't done it. She had been around long enough to know that he absolutely adored his godson, and that he loved his best friends. She had watched him fight death eaters and even Voldemort himself. She had seen his bare arms enough to know that he bore no dark mark, and since she could now lay claim to seeing him naked she could also say that he had no such mark anywhere on his body. The Ministry would hear none of it. She had had to restrain herself from cursing a certain part of Bartemius Crouch's anatomy off, since she figured that wouldn't help Sirius at all. They'd finally enacted magic to keep her out. She wasn't able to get anywhere near the Ministry of Magic building.

She cried herself to sleep every night she was able to sleep, and sometimes she had to just stop what she was doing just to sob when she couldn't hold it in any longer. She had gotten in the habit of curling up in the bed they had shared. She could still smell his scent on the pillow: a mixture of Fire Whiskey and cologne. It calmed her to be able to sense him. It still didn't stop the despair from engulfing her, though. To make matters worse, she had been sick for weeks. She thought that it was a side effect of her mental suffering, but even knowing what it was didn't make it better.

She had known that something was wrong when she'd felt unsurpassed rage come through their connection. It had woken her up, and she had stayed up trying to feel something until she saw the news in the _Daily Prophet_. It'd been a little over a month since she had learned that Sirius had been arrested. It had been twenty-nine days since he'd been sent to Azkaban, barely two days after his arrest. She could feel how miserable he was. She could even feel as his happiness was sucked out of him. Everyday she could sense less and less of the liveliness that usually radiated off of him. It was almost unbearable for her to know what he was going through, and she had yet to find a way to stop it.

She was past the point of desperateness when she burst into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She only made it to the third floor when she was attacked by two of the professors. She recognized one as Professor McGonagall, the one Sirius loved to tease and torment, but she didn't recognize the tiny man who was with her. She didn't feel any remorse as she cut them down mercilessly and continued on her way. The headmaster was not going to have a chance to turn her away from his door this time. She was **going** to have a meeting with him.

Many people didn't realize that the gargoyle opened for anyone who was truly desperate to see the headmaster of the school. Too bad for Dumbledore that it didn't discriminate between students and guests. She blasted the door down and stormed in to meet the raised eyebrows of the ancient wizard inside.

She didn't hesitate to speak, "You know he didn't do it." Her voice was calm despite the fact that power fueled by anger was crackling around her.

"He deserved to be in Azkaban even before the happenings of the past month. You cannot dispute that if you know what he has done," Dumbledore's declaration served to make Alex even more furious.

"I can't help that your views are narrow," she grew less calm as she thought about what he had said, but tried to maintain her tone of voice, "but that isn't what this is about. This is about sending an innocent man into Hell. He would never betray the Potters, and he didn't blow up the street."

The headmaster stood from behind his desk, "To the best of my knowledge, he was the secret keeper. James Potter was adamant that Sirius Black be his protector; he wouldn't be swayed. I will not proclaim that he is innocent when there is no proof."

Alex lost any cool that she might have had, "**He hasn't been questioned under Veritaserum! He hasn't been questioned at all! You're all willing to put a man in Azkaban based on assumptions just to cover up this whole mess and not ruin the wonderful celebration!"**

Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak, but Alex had already read his mind enough while he was surprised to know that he wasn't going to help her. She shrieked and began throwing curses, hoping to make the man in front of her feel as much pain as Sirius felt. The headmaster reacted immediately to the threat, and they faced each other angrily.

Alex made the first move. She went for the most excruciatingly painful curses she could think of. She ignored all of the hexes that he threw at her, most of them didn't effect her in her empowered state anyway. She felt no effects from his spells until one hit her in the stomach. She felt pain in the area, but ignored it as she concentrated all of her power on a curse. She felt the necessary power leave her, and suddenly she was very weak. She looked down in surprise to examine her body for injury, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

She felt her power continue to drain away. The pain in her stomach was suddenly more than she could bear, and she sank onto the ground. She clutched her stomach as the remaining power faded, and all of a sudden the pain flared up. She screamed and her sight went blurry. She could hear the headmaster yelling at her, apparently worried even though he was the one who cast the spell. She felt arms grab her, and that was the last thing she was aware of.

--------------------

(I had to jump into third person here since Alex is unconscious. Just so you don't get confused or anything.)

Madam Pomfrey was bustling around a bed right inside the door of the infirmary. The tiny body lying on top of the sheets was writhing in pain uncontrollably. The mediwitch was waving her wand quickly in a frantic attempt to diagnose the problem.

She spun to the headmaster, "What did you hit her with?"

Dumbledore shook his head to deny attempting to harm her, "It was a stunning spell."

"Well, obviously it's something else! Tell me exactly what happened!" Madam Pomfrey paid no heed to the headmaster's position of authority over her.

"She was casting, and suddenly she collapsed," he stared at the body on the bed, and suddenly looked up, "She grabbed her stomach."

Madam Pomfrey stood back as she contemplated her patient, mumbling to herself about the symptoms and what they might mean. She suddenly gasped and cast a spell at the girl's stomach, her eyes widening dramatically as she stared at the glow coming from the end of her wand. She ran to her medicine cabinet and rushed back without casting another glance at Dumbledore.

The mediwitch muttered to herself as she coaxed a potion into the girl's body, "Couldn't handle it, the poor thing. Too much stress. Be lucky to survive..."

The headmaster looked on in growing worry. He finally interrupted the nurse's rambling, "Couldn't handle what?"

Madam Pomfrey continued to talk to herself, "Much too young. She must not have known. That's all I can think of to explain it. She protected herself and didn't know to do anything further. Went straight to the poor little thing. Stunning spells are just too much for them to handle..."

"Madam Pomfrey, I demand to know what you are talking about!" Dumbledore rose his voice to get her attention.

She spun around to face him, "She's pregnant!"

--------------------

A/N: Sorry it's so short, and with that at the end, too. The rest is going to be too much to tack onto this chapter, but I'm in a serious writing mood so the next update should be soon. Keep your fingers crossed that I haven't just jinxed myself.


	13. It's Difficult to Suck In as a Dog

1A/N: Before I get any hate mail or anything...just let me say that what happens in this chapter in no way reflects what I personally think about certain things...and you'll see what I mean when you read it. It was horrible to write (trust me that's why it took so long to update despite my writing mood), but it plays an enormously huge part of the plot later on.

Oh, and I realize that I said this story would sort of follow along with the books...but it's going to be extremely AU for a while. It will pick back up with the books eventually, after Harry has had time to grow up.

Chapter Thirteen

(Still in third person just in the first section)

Dumbledore stood stiffly in a sparsely decorated lounge as he waited for the healer to bring him the news. He had had the girl transferred to St. Mungo's when it became clear that Madam Pomfrey didn't have the necessary materials to do what was needed. The healers had immediately taken the girl from his care and ushered him to a waiting room after hearing the details of the case.

The headmaster turned his attention to the healer as he walked into the room and spoke, "I'm afraid that a rather hard decision must be made, Professor Dumbledore. Do you, perhaps, know the patient's age?"

"My best guess is that she is seventeen or not much older," the headmaster replied, calling upon his knowledge of the prophecy, "but she won't have any guardians to make a decision regardless of her age."

The healer nodded, "Then would you happen to know who the father is? I'm sure he will want a say in this matter." The man seemed to be in quite a rush.

Dumbledore sensed that something was horribly wrong. "It isn't my business to say," he avoided answering the question even though he had a wonderful idea of the answer. The healer seemed exasperated, so the headmaster continued, "Can you not ask the girl to make a decision for herself?"

The healer shook his head, "Too much of her energy is being used to keep the baby alive. It would be a horrible idea to wake her even if we were able to."

"She is currently under my care. Perhaps I can help?" the headmaster suggested.

"I don't see any other option, Headmaster," the healer sighed, "The baby is using so much of her energy that she will be lucky to live for another day. We can put her on a regiment of various potions and spells to keep her energy up until the baby might live, but the chances of that working are extremely low, and even if we do succeed it would take a miracle for either of them to survive anyway. The only thing I can say for sure is that if the baby is..." he paused, seeming to struggle with the words, "...taken out of the situation...that the mother will live."

Dumbledore stared at the healer, "What would you have me do?"

The healer sighed again, "The best medical advice is to save the mother, but I don't know what to do. Taking the baby might have terrible consequences on her psyche."

After a long silence, the headmaster came to a decision, "The father isn't what you would call ideal. I might even go so far as to say that he manipulated the girl into the sort of situation that would cause this. He is no longer in the picture, and the girl is much too young to be a mother of any kind, much less a single mother. I think it would be best if you did what you have to do to save her life." He avoided directly saying what he thought should be done.

The healer looked defeated, but nodded his head, "If you think it would be best, then that is what I will do, Professor Dumbledore."

The headmaster followed the man out the door, "I will stay until she wakes up."

The healer could only nod his head in agreement. He didn't want to be the one to face the girl when she woke up.

--------------------

Alex regained consciousness in a panic. Everything was black and silent. She couldn't move her body. She couldn't do anything. She tried to call out for help, but she couldn't even open her mouth. She laid there in growing panic until suddenly sound rushed back to her.

"Are you sure about this, Sir?" came a female voice.

A male voice that sounded rather dejected answered, "Our best hope is to save the girl. The baby will probably not make it no matter what course of action is taken, but the mother will definitely live if we do this."

Alex was confused for a moment. What the Hell were they talking about? All of a sudden, someone was touching her stomach. Everything came crashing down around her. **She** was pregnant! The sickness suddenly all made sense. She was only left wondering what they were doing to her.

The same female voice answered her question for her, "What will we tell her? That we killed her baby to save her? No mother wants that!"

If Alex could have screamed, she would have. She didn't even hear the reply over the shrieking protests in her mind. They were going to kill it? It was **hers**, not theirs! They couldn't do anything to it! Her horror grew as she tried her best to move, to speak, to disappear, to do anything to stop them from harming her baby. She had only just found out about it, and already she knew that she would rather die than have it die.

All thoughts stopped as pain worse than anything she'd ever felt started in her stomach and worked its way through her entire body in a matter of seconds. She could feel power being forced away from her body, though it was struggling to hold onto her. The struggle felt like it was ripping her apart, and suddenly feeling came back to her.

She screamed out the pain and sorrow that she felt. She immediately struck out at the person doing this to her, hoping to make them stop. She didn't come in contact with anything, and her shrieking continued. She began to fight the invisible pain, striking out in all directions trying to hit someone and dislodge them.

The pain suddenly became worse, and in the next second she felt the last bit of power losing its grip on her. The pain began to subside, and she was aware of the tears streaming down her face. She realized that she was no longer on the bed, and opened her eyes to take in her surroundings. She had thrown herself off the bed when she was flailing around, and was now curled up in the floor.

A face came into view over the edge of the bed, "Miss, we're going to have to get you back into bed."

"What did you do with my baby!" she ignored the pain when she sat up.

"We had to take it to save you," the woman's voice she had heard earlier whispered it regretfully, and Alex turned her head to see a young woman backed against the wall with eyes wide in horror.

Alex's own eyes widened as more tears welled up in them. It was gone. No baby...not anymore. She scrambled back from the people until her back hit a wall and she couldn't move any further. She brought her knees to her chin and rocked herself back and forth as she muttered, "No, no, no, no..." All coherent thought left her.

The healer made the mistake of trying to lift her up. As soon as he touched her, she shrieked and shoved him away from her, "**Don't touch me!**" The healer's attempts to calm her only made her freak out more. She fought through the pain and forced herself to stand. She had almost made it to the door when Albus Dumbledore walked in. She froze.

The headmaster looked at her calmly, "You should get back into bed, Alexandrea."

She ignored his request, "**You! You did this! What did I do to you! You took Sirius's life away and took him from me, and now you took our baby! What did either of us do to deserve this! What did the baby to do deserve this!**" There were a thousand other things that she wanted to scream at the man, and even more things that she wanted to do to hurt him physically. However, she was suddenly restrained from behind.

Alex struggled against her captors, but her depleted strength paired with the shockwaves of pain still shooting through her body made it a losing battle. She was forced back into the bed, and was magically restrained and silenced.

The medical staff hovered around her, running one test after the other and administering various spells and potions. She cried to herself, utterly alone, until suddenly she felt Sirius's presence in her mind. A ray of something akin to hope fought through her despair. He hadn't contacted her and she hadn't been able to contact him since a few days after he was sent to Azkaban. She sensed only his worry, she'd obviously been feeling such strong physical and mental pain that it broke through to him.

She felt him probe her mind, and knew immediately when he found what was wrong. Pure, unadulterated rage came from him. She suddenly felt power surging through her once again, and realized that he was doing the only thing he could (whether it was intentional or accidental) by transferring power to her. She only had a second to contemplate how strong their bond must be for him to be able to do such a thing over such a long distance before she heard screams of pain.

She looked around at the people who had previously been fluttering around her. She saw that her body was emitting a strong glow of magical energy, and when the head healer risked touching her he immediately withdrew his hand with an exclamation of pain. Satisfied that no one could touch her, she concentrated on the magic holding her in place, and felt the restraints give a few seconds later. She immediately vacated the bed and headed for the door. She was so intent on escaping that she didn't even stop to think as she cut down anyone who was in her way.

--------------------

Sirius was screaming. Not the screams of insanity that came from the other prisoners, but screams of turmoil and rage. He threw punches at the wall, not feeling the pain that it brought on. Power zoomed around him, and he even managed to dent the magically enforced stone.

The nightmare he had had came back to him: Alex alone and in pain. The reality was worse than anything he had imagined. He seriously doubted if the dementors would have to suck any happy thoughts out of him anymore. He felt Alex's relief, and was relieved to discover through their connection that she had escaped. He tried to reach her, but she was completely feral. It was much like how she had been the first time he had ever seen her in action in the infirmary.

Sirius, finally tiring himself out, sank down in a corner of the small, dank cell. He wished for nothing other than to be with her right now. He had tried to escape in the beginning, but his power had already been sucked out of him by the time the drugs they had him on wore off. His eyes alighted on a rock in the middle of the floor, and he realized with a start that he had just blasted great chunks of stone out of magically strengthened walls. Azkaban must have effected his mind more than he thought for him not to notice that. He looked down at his hands and saw that there was black energy crackling around them. He grinned, not a happy grin, but a malicious one. His emotions must have unleashed his powers, his emotions always did overpower any outside forces if he got riled up enough.

He stood with a confidence he hadn't felt in longer than he could remember - he had lost track of how long he'd been in here after the first week or so. He tested his power contemplatively, trying to decide if he was strong enough to teleport. He quickly came to the conclusion that it was a bad idea. The two dementors hovering right outside his cell weren't helping his power redevelop any more than it already had.

He turned his attention to the bars. They were narrow, and he doubted his ability to aim properly enough to melt them after going so long without magic. He also doubted that he was strong enough to turn into anything he wanted to and slip through them. He stared at them for a while, until he finally formulated a plan.

Sirius concentrated all of his strength on two of the bars, and after a few moments he managed to bend them pointing away from each other. He examined the enlarged space, and decided that Padfoot would be able to slip through them if he maneuvered carefully. He eased into his animagus form and began working his way through the space. He had a scare when his middle wouldn't fit through - he learned that it's difficult to suck in when you're a dog - but he eventually managed to wiggle through.

He only had a few seconds to be happy that his plan had worked before the feeling was sucked out of him. He didn't even chance a look at the pair of dementors assigned to guard him as he spun around and broke out into a run down the corridor. Since he had been knocked out when he was brought to Azkaban, he had absolutely no clue which way the exit was. He relied on Padfoot's senses and instincts as he ran down halls and slid around corners.

He could finally see the outside, but only through more bars. He stopped as panic welled up in him. He was so close. He couldn't be stopped now! He turned back into himself and beat against the bars frantically. He couldn't seem to bring enough power up to do anything to the metal. He heard footsteps coming towards him and he really began to panic. He concentrated all of his thoughts on how much he wanted to get out of here, to get to Alex. All of a sudden the bars he was leaning against disappeared and he crashed to the ground on the other side.

He didn't stop to think about what had happened as he scrambled to his feet and broke out into a run.

--------------------

Sirius crashed heavily on his feet as the tugging at his belly button ceased. The news tomorrow would be priceless: prisoner escapes from Azkaban fortress and disappears without a trace off the island. He wondered if they would be able to track the rock he had used as a portkey after he had calmed down and got his magic under control. His humorous mood soon faded, however, as another wave of emotions coming from Alex entered his mind.

He rushed through the front door without another thought. He couldn't get anything out of Alex other than her emotions, she was too distraught. He hoped that she was here, however. He thought that she might have come back to this house because it was the most familiar place to her from when they lived together. He looked around the entire first floor without seeing a trace of her. He was struck with an idea while walking through the library, and immediately headed for the stairs.

He found that his instincts had been correct when he walked through the door of their bedroom. Alex was curled up on the bed sobbing into his pillow. She was turned away from him, so he could only walk towards her slowly, trying not to startle her by making any noise. He walked to the other side of the room slowly, until he was standing in front of her. Her face was buried into his pillow, so he kneeled down at the edge bed and reached a hand out carefully.

"Alex," he said her name softly. She screamed and scrambled blindly away from his touch without even looking at him. He felt anger well up in him again because they had hurt her so much that she was too afraid to even recognize him. He winced himself when she clutched her stomach in pain after moving.

She seemed to give up and collapsed back onto the bed. She was facing away from him again. He didn't risk touching her, but lowered himself to begging, "Love, it's me. Don't be afraid. Let me help you."

Ever so slowly, she turned to face him. Her eyes roamed over his face for a few seconds, before she burst into more tears. He only had a few seconds for confusion before she spoke, "You're not real. You can't be real. He's gone."

Sirius felt a distinct pain in his chest, "I'm real, I swear it. I escaped to be with you." She didn't seem to believe him, so he decided to say something only he would know, "When we were together in the forest you became a part of me. You're always in my head; I can always feel what you feel. Right now I can only feel how hurt and scared you are, and it's hurting me that you won't let me help."

Alex's breath caught in her throat, and she bit her lip as she studied him carefully. He sent a silent plea to her through their connection, and suddenly her eyes lit up. "Sirius," she breathed out his name. She made a move to rush into his arms, but cried out in pain and started crying again.

The fury Sirius felt continued to build, but he ignored it and rushed onto the bed. He gave her what they both wanted and took her into his arms. Despite his best efforts to be gentle with her, she still whimpered in pain. He lowered her down slowly onto the mattress, and moved to lie down beside her. Her hands clutched at his robes and she cried into his chest as his arms moved around her to rub up and down her arms and then down her back soothingly.

--------------------

Alex hadn't been sure if the tears would ever stop. She had cried onto Sirius's chest so long that she had lost track of time altogether. Eventually his comforting presence and his soothing words and hands had calmed her down enough to stem the flow of tears, at least for the moment. She still refused to let go of him, however.

After a while she noticed that the robes she was burrowing against were not altogether clean. She pulled away from him as far as his arms would let her, "You need a bath."

His worried face broke into a grin, "I know. You aren't so hot yourself, though, Love." She realized with a start that she was, indeed, dressed in hospital robes and covered in sweat. Tears threatened to spill over her eyes again as she stared at the hospital robes, but Sirius calmed her. He broke the silence as he sat up, "Come on, Love, we're going to have a bath."

Alex allowed him to lift her into his arms carefully, "Together?"

Sirius looked mischievous for a second, "Would you rather be alone? I've already seen you without clothes, but I'm sure you remember that wonderfully."

Truth be told, she **did** remember wonderfully. She couldn't bring herself to comment on how arrogant he was. She managed to nod her head to show that she was okay with his proposition, but couldn't find the words to speak.

He set her down on the counter and he turned to turn on the water in the enormous bathtub. He shed his robe, and caught her eyes when he began to undo the buttons on his shirt. Alex was touched that he was worried if she cared or not, and she leaned back against the wall to watch him. He didn't seem to mind putting on a show, and he continued to undress without missing a beat. He then turned to shut off the water before turning his attention back to her.

She allowed him to remove the robe from her body without protest, and when he was done he lifted her again and moved towards the bathtub. Sirius settled her in the water, and then slid in behind her. Alex was afraid that he might want something that she wasn't ready to give, but if he noticed her tension he didn't comment on it. Instead she felt his hands move to her hair, and realized that he was putting shampoo in it. She let him wash her hair, and was even more surprised when she felt a cloth move gently against her back.

He washed her body carefully, not straying away from his purpose and trying anything sexual. For that she was glad. By the time he was finished, she was completely relaxed. Alex was content to lean against him for a while, before she realized that he was getting no attention of his own. She turned slowly in his arms, and reached for the shampoo bottle herself. He closed his eyes as she ran her fingers through his hair, and leaned closer to her as she washed the dirt off of his body.

As she leaned against him to reach his back, he tensed. She pulled away slightly to look at him questioningly. She felt his hands come up to her sides to gently push her body away from his. She opened her mouth to voice the question, but her breath caught in her throat when his hands moved carefully against her stomach. As she thought about it, she realized that he had carefully avoided touching her there the entire time.

He started to pull his hands away, "I'm sorry." She grabbed his wrists to stop him. He took a deep breath, "It was mine...ours. We made it."

She suddenly felt more horrible than she had before. She hadn't even given thought to how he might feel. She started to cry again, unable to say anything to him. She embraced him, and felt the tension in him continue to build. Finally, she whispered, "Don't." She had meant to tell him not to hold it in, but hadn't been able to get the words out. He seemed to realize what she meant, however, as he took a shuddering breath.

He pressed his face into her neck and wrapped his arms around her. They cried together until the water got cold, and Sirius pulled away and lifted them out. They helped to dry each other off, Alex still leaning heavily against him. As they embraced again, Alex couldn't help but wonder if they would ever be okay.

--------------------

A/N: In answer to comments from many people: no I couldn't just leave him in there too long. I felt that Sirius had to go to Azkaban because it was something that made him who he was, but that doesn't mean he had to stay in there for all twelve years to get the effects. As for the baby, I hated the whole thing. It **will** propel the plot forward throughout the rest of the story, which is the purpose it served no matter how horrible I personally think it is.


	14. Teenagers Hanging All Over Each Other

A/N: It seems like I'm becoming one of those people who almost never updates. I hope this is the longest time I'll go without adding to this story. I've had this written for ages, but I haven't had internet access for a while since I was in the middle of nowhere visiting very old members of my family who don't have internet or want to get it (unimaginable, I know). Maybe this is the last time I'll have to say I'm sorry.

Chapter Fourteen

A few weeks later found Alex noticeably better than she had been in the beginning. The pain had luckily all but disappeared to a dull throbbing in the pit of her stomach that only occurred every once in a while. Her power was building back up, and she could feel it even though she couldn't use it too much without draining herself.

Despite her initial fear that he wasn't real, Sirius was a constant presence. He always knew what she needed, whether it was to be alone or to be held. She also knew what he needed. She had to comfort him as much as he had to comfort her. Sirius had told her everything that had happened. If she wasn't waking him up with nightmares of the hospital, then he was waking her up with nightmares of either Godric's Hollow or Azkaban.

They had gone back to their habit of sharing a bed although Alex was afraid that he would expect more than sleeping since he'd already had her once. She had been wrong; although she could often feel how much he wanted her, Sirius never said anything or tried to do anything about it. They had also reverted to their old routine of doing whatever they wanted to do, even though what they were **able** to do varied greatly from what they **wanted** to do because of Alex's depleted strength.

The mornings were Alex's favorite time of the day. She would normally wake up to Sirius kissing her, and there was almost no better way to wake up in her opinion. So when she woke up with no help one morning, she figured she had just woken up before Sirius and immediately reached out to find him. She was completely surprised when she came in contact with nothing but sheets, and opened her eyes only to find that Sirius was not beside her. She called out his name, but there was no response. Alex sighed and felt through their connection, which was getting harder for her to do in her weakened state.

Alex was alarmed to feel how angry and sad Sirius felt. She shot out of bed immediately, ignoring her protesting muscles, and went to look for him. After an extensive search, she finally found him in the room that he had told her the Black family used to keep up with family history. There were shelves lining the walls that were full of old journals, photo albums, and pensieves. Sirius was sitting on an ottoman with his back to her, flipping through a photo album. Alex could see the tenseness in his body, as well as feel his emotions through their connection, and it was only getting stronger as he turned each page.

She slid up to him, placing herself on the ottoman behind him and laying her chin on his shoulder so she could look over it. He didn't acknowledge her presence, but continued to stare at the book in his hands instead. Alex studied the picture currently before her. There was a family in it: a father, a mother, and a young boy who appeared to be barely five if he was even that. They all had pale skin and dark hair. Even though she had never thought of looking through baby pictures, and he had certainly never offered it himself, Alex could tell that the young boy was Sirius. The young Sirius in the picture grinned up brightly at his parents, and they smiled back, albeit a little tightly.

She didn't have time to take in anymore from the picture as Sirius abruptly turned the page. The next picture was of a smiling Sirius rubbing his mother's obviously pregnant stomach, but Alex didn't get the chance to observe the interaction as he flipped another page quickly. The next photograph was of the entire family again, but with the new addition of a baby in the mother's arms. Alex watched in growing interest as the young Sirius stood away from the rest of the family. The parents didn't seem to notice, as they were too preoccupied with the baby.

Sirius turned the page again, only to reveal an older version of his family. He continued to flip through the book, growing faster and faster as time went on. Alex's understanding grew as more scenes were revealed to her. As the pictures continued down the years, a pattern emerged. The parents were always paying ceaseless attention to their youngest son, and the young Sirius distanced himself further away. As the Sirius in the picture grew older, Alex noticed him glaring in detest and disgust at the rest of his family. They, for their part, often shot him the same looks, particularly his mother.

Sirius slowed his pace as it came to a picture of the family standing in a lavish room. Alex didn't recognize the background, but knew that it had to be part of a very luxurious house. The family started in their normal pose, with Sirius standing off by himself and the other three crowded together. It wasn't very long, however, before the mother turned and said something to Sirius, and all hell broke loose. Alex watched as the room shook, cracks appearing in the wall and chunks of ceiling falling down. A quick glance at the irate-looking Sirius in the picture told her who had caused all of this.

He turned another page and Alex saw that the next picture was of his father, mother, and brother by themselves. Their oldest son was nowhere to be seen. A few more pages in rapid succession proved that he wasn't anywhere to be seen in any of the other pictures either. Sirius didn't get through the entire album before he growled and threw it across the room.

He let out a long breath, but it didn't relieve any of his tension. Alex lifted her head off his shoulder, and when he didn't turn to face her she tentatively reached out to run a hand down his back.

He didn't respond for a few moments, but finally said, "I've never stuck around long enough to give a girl a chance to love me before you. Love would mean that she wanted marriage and babies. All of that would mean that there was a chance I would fuck things up and end up just like my parents, so I never planned on falling in love with anyone, and I certainly never wanted to have a baby."

Alex sucked in a breath. She hadn't expected him to mention that. She pulled her hand back as she asked quietly, "You didn't want it?"

He shook his head, but still didn't turn around, "I wanted it, and that surprised me more than anything else ever has. I knew I loved the baby as soon as I found out about it, but it was already gone...I would have been better than my family."

"I know," she acknowledged him through her sigh of relief. She had been afraid that he was going to finally reject her. She had been worried lately that he would get tired of having her so dependent on him.

They sat in silence for a while, before Sirius finally spoke again. "I haven't seen you up so early since...**ever**, actually," his voice was much lighter now, but Alex could tell that he was forcing it.

She leaned forward again, laying her head on his bare back and wrapping her arms around his waist. "You weren't there when I woke up," she stated as if it were the most obvious explanation in the world.

To Sirius, it was the best excuse she could have told him. He unwrapped her arms from his waist and stood abruptly. Alex stared at him in confusion, but he dispersed her fears of having chased him off when he bent down and lifted her smoothly into his arms. He walked to the large sofa that was against one wall and laid her down. He moved over her, coming to rest against the back of the couch and wrapping his arms around her.

He placed a kiss on her neck, "Shall I make up for it?"

She opened her mouth to respond, but he didn't give her the chance as he kissed her opened mouth with his own. Alex sighed in contentment. This really was the best way to spend time. Well, there was one other thing that she knew was better than snogging Sirius. The more she thought about it, the more she decided she wanted it.

She moved so that she was pressed more closely against him, and he got the message as one of his hands ventured under her shirt. Alex realized for the first time since jumping out of bed that she was only dressed in one of his t-shirts, which she had commandeered for her own use after their first night back in this house. Sirius discovered this, too, and she felt him grin against her mouth. His hand quickly moved up her thighs, and then across the expanse of her stomach up to her chest. He only spent minimal time roaming before he started making his way downwards again.

Alex felt herself being repositioned, and suddenly Sirius was looming over her. She felt sudden panic at being trapped under his weight, and broke off their kiss with a gasp. Sirius must have assumed that she just needed breath, because he simply replaced his mouth against her neck. Her mind was full of thoughts of being held down while people stood over her. She moved her hands to his shoulders, pushing weakly against him. Sirius suddenly let out a gasp himself and jumped back.

Alex stared at Sirius, who ran a hand through his hair as he panted, "I'm sorry, Love. What you were feeling just suddenly rushed in. If I had realized it earlier I wouldn't have pushed you."

"It isn't your fault," she responded, breaking eye contact, "I shouldn't have started something I can't finish."

Alex distinctly heard the hurt in his voice after her declaration, "You don't want to be with me?"

"That's not it," she assured him quickly, "I want to, but I can't. I don't know what's wrong with me."

Sirius was beside her the next second, "After what you've been through, I won't blame you if I look like Dumbledore by the time you let me touch you again."

Alex couldn't stop the look of disgust from appearing on her face, "I can assure you that you will never look like that horrible old man, and that I wouldn't let you touch me **ever** again if you did."

Sirius laughed, "Oh, yeah. I forget sometimes that I'm never going to change. There'll be no wrinkles, gray hairs, or sagging parts to worry about." Alex lifted her head to smile tearily at him, and he leaned forward to whisper in her ear, "I love you. No matter how frustrated you keep me, I'll always love you."

Alex nodded her head in acceptance, "I love you, too."

--------------------

Sirius pulled Alex closer to him as they passed another group of people. He didn't feel particularly keen on battling with trained aurors and hit wizards at the moment. Alex, to her credit, was making no effort to leave his side or draw attention to them. That didn't make Sirius feel any better about being out in public.

After tearing apart the kitchen looking for something to make for breakfast and not being able to find anything, Sirius had come to the conclusion that they were in desperate need of a shopping trip. Not to mention the fact that it was nearing Christmas. No matter that he was a wanted fugitive and Dumbledore was holding a massive search for her, Sirius still wanted to give Alex a Christmas ever since she had told him that she had never really celebrated it.

So, here they were, walking side-by-side in the middle of Diagon Alley. To anyone who happened to see them, they appeared to be two teenagers hanging all over each other. They weren't drawing too much attention, and for that Sirius was glad. However, they had yet to do anything difficult. They had entered a few shops and purchased various necessities, but no one had thought twice about that.

It was Gringotts that Sirius was worried about. There was a whole division of goblins devoted specifically to the Black accounts, and they were meticulous and malicious guardians of anything belonging to the family. Sirius was worried that they would not let him in even though he had a key because he didn't look like himself. He'd known the goblin that was in charge of his vault since he was a little boy, and he knew that the goblin knew what he looked like.

Sirius was worried about their reaction the entire time they were walking up the stairs and through the vast hall of Gringotts, and when he was standing in front of the goblin at the main desk he didn't feel any better. He managed to pull off a confident look, "I require service immediately. I'm in a hurry." He dropped his key on the desk.

The goblin examined the gold key, then snapped his gaze back to Sirius, "You don't have permission to use this vault."

"Do you follow the news?" he leveled a glare at the goblin, who replied with a dignified sniff that Sirius took as a yes, "Well, then you would know that the owner of this account can't be seen in public. I'm sure that if Sirius Black were here, however, that he would have your head for making him wait this long."

The goblin stared at him closely, finally caught the message, and then turned and muttered something to an assistant behind him. Seconds later Sirius and Alex were being ushered to a door by several goblins. The ride to his vault was uneventful. Silence pressed in from all sides as Sirius braced himself for the by now familiar curves and stops. Finally, it was over and Sirius helped Alex out of the cart before turning to enter the vault.

He immediately walked to the small table just inside the door and looked over the ledger. As his eyes alighted on the balance, he turned to Alex, "Didn't enjoy my money, then?"

She met his eyes, "I was too busy trying to get you out of prison to shop." He held eye contact for a while longer before grabbing a bag and turning to stuff it full of galleons.

The ride back to the surface was a bit more eventful than the ride down. Sirius had been uncharacteristically silent ever since Alex's last statement, and she had noticed. Sometime in the middle of the ride, her hand found his. Sirius gave in and opened his mind to her, which was something he wasn't entirely comfortable doing. It wasn't that he didn't trust her with his thoughts, but he didn't want to burden her with the turmoil that was his mind when she was already so bogged down in her own emotions. Now that he had let her into his head, she would be feeling all of the anger, remorse, and regret that he felt every second.

When the cart finally screeched to a halt, she released him. He stepped out immediately, and she was beside him the next second. Her hand came up to hook at his elbow, and he felt her thoughts suddenly pouring into his head. It only lasted for a few seconds (something he attributed to how weak she was), but it was enough for him to be able to tell that she didn't regret letting him unload his emotions onto her.

They walked arm in arm towards the door, almost making it before everything suddenly came screeching to a halt. In a brief display of her uninhibited strength, Alex jerked him to a stop. Sirius spun around to question her, only to see her wide and frightened eyes being aimed across the room. He turned to look, seeing nothing but a few wizards standing in line. She was gasping in shallow breaths by now, almost to the point of hyperventilation.

Sirius searched through her racing thoughts, finally coming to what was bothering her. He had to stop himself from storming across the room and attacking one of the men. From what he had gathered from Alex's memories, it was the mediwizard who had taken the baby from her. Sirius was now fully supporting Alex's weight. He had to half drag her out of the building.

He went around the corner into an alley and leaned against the side of the building. His head was spinning, fury welling up inside him. Alex's hand was still grasping his elbow and he could feel her shaking. Sirius reached out and pulled her against his chest. She grasped his robes as she soaked them with tears, trembling uncontrollably.

Sirius did not let her cling to him for more than a few minutes before he gently pried her fingers from his shirt and lifted her off of him. He took a knut that was left over from their shopping out of his pocket and cast a spell at it. He handed it to her as he dug the bag of galleons out of his robes, "Here, I've made this knut into a portkey. Take the money and go back home, Love."

Alex's tear-stained face framed wet eyes as she stared at him, "Alone?"

"I'll come in a few minutes," he wrapped her fingers around the portkey, knowing that it would activate in a few seconds, "I have something to take care of first." He took his hands off of hers a split second before she disappeared.

--------------------

Sirius watched the steps of Gringotts from the shadows cast by the awning of a nearby shop. He was extremely good at virtually disappearing when he wanted to, or else he would have drawn such negative attention that he might not get his current job done. He was staring at the doors of the wizarding bank with undivided attention, barely taking the time to even blink. His gray eyes had turned very dark, and were shining brightly through the shadows of his hiding place. Every time the door opened, he would tense in anticipation, only to relax with an out take of breath when it was not the person he had been looking for.

If anyone happened to have been a little put off by seeing him during his observation of the bank, then anyone who saw him when the tenseness in his shoulders finally stayed firmly in place instead of receding would have been scared out of their wits. Sirius followed the middle-aged wizard with his eyes as he walked down the steps and came closer and closer until he finally walked right past the shop his stalker was using as a hiding place. Sirius slid out onto the edge of the street without being noticed and placed himself a dozen or so feet behind the man he was following. Luckily the man had saved Gringotts has is last stop of the day and didn't stop at any other shops along the way to the apparation point. Sirius moved to stand right behind him as he prepared to apparate, shoving a few people out of the way to achieve that position. Sirius broke into the man's mind just as he was apparating, effectively gaining the knowledge of the location the man had been thinking about.

Any of the people Sirius had rudely shoved out of his way didn't get the chance to say anything to him, as he disappeared a few seconds after the man he was obviously following. Sirius reappeared outside a large stylish house. The mediwizard he was following was almost to the door when he was grabbed from behind. Protests at being held in such an uncomfortable position formed on his lips, but the tirade was interrupted by the voice of his captor, "You have a lovely family."

Sirius was, indeed, looking through a window at a pretty young witch doting over a giggling baby. The man he was holding immediately got the threat aimed at his family, "Who are you! What do you want!"

"I wonder how you can sleep at night with your beautiful, healthy baby just down the hall," Sirius was holding himself in check as he spoke, the urge to simply rip the man apart was growing greater by the second, "If I had robbed an innocent young woman of her child, I know I wouldn't be able to look at anyone in my own family."

The man ceased struggling as soon as he figured out what his captor was talking about, "What business is it of yours?"

Sirius watched the skin on his arm bubble for a few seconds as the Polyjuice Potion he had taken wore off. He grinned to himself as he carelessly tossed the man onto the ground a few feet away. The man immediately rolled onto his back to face his captor as he struggled to get up. He stopped as his eyes grew so large Sirius thought they might pop out of his head, "**You!**"

"Yes, me," Sirius waved a hand impatiently, "I thought finishing my business with you was a good reason to come out of hiding."

The mediwizard stuttered for a few seconds before he managed to reply, "But...what business do you have with me! I've never met you!"

"No, you haven't met me," Sirius agreed, "but you have met someone very close to me. Well, I don't know that met is the right word. Tortured maybe? Almost killed? Oh, and let's not forget the other member of my family you know about...and they say **I'm** a murderer!"

The frightened man looked to be thinking very hard about what Sirius was talking about, but soon enough the light came on, "You were..."

Sirius cut the man off, "The father? Yes...and you murdered my baby."

The man shrunk back as Sirius advanced on him. "She would have died! I saved her! They both would have died!" the man pleaded his case fervently.

Sirius stopped when he was standing directly over the man, "Now that you know exactly why I'm killing you..." He trailed off as he cast the Cruciatus Curse at the man. He felt a morbid sense of fulfillment at the intense pain the mediwiard was experiencing. He was glad that he had thought to cast a Silencing Charm on the yard so that no one would disturb them, and especially so that the family inside wouldn't hear. He had no intention of stooping so low as to kill the two innocents inside this house no matter how far his need for revenge went. He would just have to make himself feel better by torturing this man in as many ways as he could think of. With the thought of Alex's pain in his mind, he stopped the curse to move onto other things.

--------------------

A/N: After making you wait so long, I don't think that nearly enough happened in this chapter to make up for it. I'm in the process of tweaking the next few chapters, and once I get the events and the details just right I'll be posting the next one. My guess is in the very near future...by the weekend at the latest...in the next day or twoif we're lucky. It depends on how motivated I am to get creative.


	15. Blemish Your Perfect Record

Chapter Fifteen

Alex was furious. As if getting tossed a portkey and sent home without her permission wasn't bad enough, now she had the added pressure of worrying about where her traitorous significant other was. If she was paralyzed with tears, then it was a given that Sirius was blinded by fury. That was just how things worked between them.

She had been pacing in front of the door for over an hour and was seriously contemplating if she was strong enough to summon him to her side when she heard a noise just on the other side of the door. She spun around just as it opened to reveal Sirius. He was decidedly worse for wear than he had been when she left him. Her anger was all but forgotten now that she knew he was alright and she rushed forward to embrace him, but was stopped when he told her not to.

"Why not?" his apparent lack of want to hold her was really hurting her feelings.

He looked down significantly at his clothes, but didn't reply as he headed up the stairs. It was then that Alex noticed the stains covering him. She trailed right behind him as he went into their bedroom and didn't stop when he entered the bathroom. He was leaning against the counter examining himself intently in the mirror when she walked in.

She stared at him for a few seconds before beginning again in a demanding tone of voice, "Sirius!"

He tensed, but turned to face her. "Yes, Love?" he said in a would-be-innocent voice (if she didn't already know something was up).

She let her gaze roam over his body, taking in the unidentifiable stains and the generally unkempt appearance. When her eyes became level with the counter, she stopped and let out a gasp. Where is hands had been touching the marble, there were now red hand prints.

"Is that blood!" she asked incredulously. He turned to see what she was looking at, and cursed. Alex got over her shock and rushed towards him, "What the hell were you thinking not saying anything! Are you hurt!" He held up his hands in a sign of surrender. She grabbed his wrists and brought them down closer so she could examine his hands.

"It's not mine," he said in an attempt to calm her down.

She stopped her tirade as her eyes snapped to his. He didn't break eye contact. Just as she opened her mouth to voice the question that he knew was coming, she froze as realization flashed in her eyes. After a few long seconds, she managed a whisper, "Sirius, you..." she trailed off in near disbelief.

Alex was having an inner battle between feeling elation at the revenge, or letting herself feel how wrong the whole thing was. Sirius helped to put her mind at ease, "That son of a bitch got what he deserved. He won't hurt anyone else. Most importantly, Love, he won't hurt you ever again since there's no way you'll be seeing him around anywhere. Unless you suddenly take up looking at the obituaries, that is."

Alex felt a fear she hadn't known she was carrying around be put at ease. She sighed as she took in his eyes, pleading for her to accept what he had done. She looked down at her hands still grasping his in a vice-like grip, and saw that hers were now covered in blood along with his. She grimaced, and his entire countenance fell as he took that as a sign of her disgust at him.

She lifted her hand to his face to force him to look at her, but stopped short as she realized that smearing blood all over his cheek wasn't going to help the situation. Instead, she reached for the hem of his shirt. She succeeded in lifting it up from his hips to his waist before his eyes snapped back to hers.

"You need a bath," she restated the words she had said to him that first night.

He grinned, "Together?" He used her own words against her.

Alex smiled. His teasing her was a sure sign of his rising spirits. She didn't grace him with a reply, but cut off his playful glance by purposefully scraping his stomach with her nails as she lifted his shirt up. He let out a sound that barely held even a tiny protest in it, and swatted her hands away as he removed his shirt much more quickly by himself. She frowned as she took in how the blood had soaked through the fabric to his skin, and turned around to turn on the water.

Before she could turn around again, she felt his hands against the skin of her back. She felt his breath against her ear as he said in a low voice, "Now you have no choice. We'll **have** to take a bath together." She wrinkled her nose in disgust as she realized that she was most likely covered in blood now.

She turned around and placed her hands on her hips, "Not at all! I might take one by myself and force you to wait outside until your turn."

He growled, and before she had time to stop him, he had literally ripped her shirt apart. She glanced down in surprise only to watch as his hands pushed the sleeves down her arms and the offending fabric fell to the floor at her feet. She took a step away from him, "I don't...not here..."

Sirius groaned, but nodded his head in acceptance, "I'm sorry."

She smiled at him, and turned around to turn off the water. As she turned around, she observed him staring at her and not working on his current state of dress at all. She sighed and reached for his belt herself. He managed to croak out, "What are you doing!"

Alex didn't pause her actions as she answered, "I didn't suppose you wanted to take a bath while you still had clothes on, and you weren't doing anything about it yourself. You're quite helpless, really."

Sirius stared at her as he groaned again, "I swear you're going to kill me someday."

"It is a very tempting idea sometimes," she muttered under her breath. A protest formed on his lips, but got stuck there sometime between her getting done with his jeans and reaching for her own. He couldn't do anything but groan again, he was beginning to rethink his comment about it not mattering how frustrated he was.

-------------------

Sirius sighed as Alex worked on his hands. Upon entering the water, she had immediately begun scrubbing the blood off of herself. He had quite enjoyed watching her, until she had turned on him. Now he could do little else other than sit there while she scrubbed furiously at him. After what seemed like ages, she deemed him clean. Before he could react, however, his head was dunked under the water.

He came up spluttering, "Alex!" His use of her name instead of his endearment for her was a sure sign that he was mad. She didn't reply, but instead moved her hands to his hair. He allowed her to lather the shampoo without comment, but as soon as she pulled her hands away he said, "I can do it!"

He shot her an angry glare as he washed the suds from his hair himself. She examined him clinically with a critical eye, before she smiled in satisfaction and stood. He stared unabashedly at her as the water streamed enticingly down her body. He grumbled in protest when she wrapped a towel around herself, but decided that it would be best to follow her lead after she glared at him menacingly.

After he had dried his hair and wrapped a towel around his hips, he turned to watch her again. His eyes widened at the sight before him. She had apparently gone to look in the mirror, forgotten about the bloody hand prints, and in the process gotten blood on her hands again. She was standing extraordinarily still, staring at her hands with wide eyes as if she had just realized what exactly the red substance was. He cast a cleaning charm on the counter, successfully making it spotless again after a few attempts, and moved up behind her without hesitance.

He turned on the tap in the sink, and took her hands in his as he led them under the water. She watched as he gently washed the blood off of her, and when he was almost finished she finally spoke, "It doesn't matter."

Sirius didn't pause his actions, but trained his gaze on her in the mirror, "What doesn't matter, Love?"

He watched as tears formed in her eyes, "Taking that man's life doesn't make the life we lost come back."

He was glad that her hands were clean again already as he couldn't resist the urge to stop what he was doing and wrap his arms around her. "I know," he whispered.

She started crying in earnest, "I feel so...hollow."

Sirius's heart went out to her as he forced his own tears back, "Do you want a baby?"

"I..." she stopped as her eyes met his in the mirror, "You don't want..."

He shook his head, "You changed my mind about love a long time ago, and I do believe you've changed my mind about kids, too. That's not what I asked, though. I asked, Love, if **you** wanted a baby."

"Yes," she whispered.

"Not just because of what happened?" he asked.

Alex looked to be seriously contemplating his question, but eventually shook her head in the negative, "No, not just because of that. I didn't even know about it until it was too late, but I wanted it so much. I didn't know it was possible to want something so much..." she broke off as a sob wracked her body.

Sirius calmed her until she was breathing deeply against his chest again, then continued, "You're seventeen years old. You do realize, Love, that if you went to school you would still be a student. Are you sure you want to have a baby **now**?"

"My age hasn't stopped you yet, Sirius," she said simply.

Sirius, satisfied with her answer, came to a decision. He took a deep breath, "Well, if it's what you want, then I guess I'll just have to knock you up."

She stilled in his arms, but soon enough, with a flurry of motion, she pulled his head down to hers for a kiss. He picked her up, never breaking the kiss, and fumbled for the doorknob so he could carry her into the bedroom.

After successfully finding the bed and depositing her on top of it, he broke the kiss and looked her in the eye, "Now, let's get one thing straight, Love. This isn't going to be all about getting you pregnant. That would take all of the meaning and emotion and even the fun out of it. We're going to jump each other whenever we want, where we want, and how we want...and you aren't going to be constantly worrying about it. It'll happen when it happens."

She nodded her head briefly, but soon enough was searching out his lips again. He pulled away, but she ignored the action and started placing kisses on his neck and shoulder. "Say it," he demanded.

She finally pulled away, "I promise to jump you whenever I want, where I want, and how I want...and also extend the same courtesy vice versa," she paused for a second, then added with a mischievous grin, "I also promise to not worry about it. Since I'm sure that I'm going to want to jump you so much that there will be no need to worry."

He laughed at her declaration, "I certainly hope so, Love." He didn't pause as his hands succeeded in ripping her towel off. He threw it over his shoulder, not caring where it landed, and sat back to admire his prize. She blushed prettily, but didn't move at all as his gaze raked up and down her body.

Soon enough, his hands moved where his eyes were looking. He ran his hands up and down her body, always careful not to touch her where she wanted him to. She sighed in frustration after a while, but soon forgot it as his mouth joined his hands. As he was now much closer to her, Alex tensed up again. Sirius felt this and made an effort to connect to her mind. He backed off as he felt how afraid she was of being held down.

After careful consideration of how to get her to relax, he spoke, "It occurs to me that I neglected to introduce you to something last time we did this."

She eyed him warily, but didn't speak. He slid down her body with all the grace of the deadly predator he was until all of his weight was off of her. She watched in surprise as he moved one of her legs over his shoulder, but eventually managed to get out, "Sirius?"

He grinned, "Trust me."

--------------------

The last time Sirius had told her to trust him, she had ended up having a very good time. With that thought in mind, she had decided to trust him this time, too. So when he told her to lie back and stop worrying so much, she had reluctantly done as she was told. She had initially not known what to think about what Sirius had decided to do to her. After a few minutes of persuasion, however, Alex decided that she was never going to question a single one of Sirius Black's ideas ever again.

She had given up trying to suppress any noises she wanted to make. It was a useless goal. If she was hurting him by pulling his hair too hard, he certainly wasn't complaining about it. Therefore, she didn't feel bad when she endeavored to dig her hands further into the silky black mop on top of his head. She didn't have long to wait before Sirius did something particularly amazing to make her gasp for air. He did it again, and the only thing she was aware of were the waves of feeling crashing into her.

It seemed like there was an explosion in front of her eyes, and then everything went black for a second. The next thing she was aware of was that she was sobbing his name. He didn't let up his assault at all, and she tried with all her might to wriggle closer to him. The longer this went on, the more her desire grew for something more.

She yanked his hair upward, trying to get him to move, but he would have none of it. After a while, Alex finally broke down, "Sirius, please..." her breath hitched as he was suddenly looming over her.

His darkened black eyes locked on her eyes, and she couldn't have looked away even if she wanted to. That thought was soon contradicted, however, as she felt him begin to press into her. She moved her hands from his hair to his back, as she tried to get closer to him faster. She fought to hold his gaze, but didn't last very long before she lost the battle. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back as a moan escaped her throat.

She felt Sirius's mouth on her neck as he started moving, and moved her head to give him better access. She felt him move one of her legs, gasped as he found a particularly good spot, and dug her fingernails into his skin. He groaned against her throat, but didn't stop. She felt the knot in her stomach tightening again and squeezed the recently discovered muscles involuntarily. Sirius gasped. She felt his teeth on her neck, but didn't have time to react to it as he moved so hard against her that she felt herself move up the bed. Her eyes shot open at the feeling, but soon snapped closed again as the knot in her stomach suddenly snapped.

When she could feel the outside world again, the first sensation was breath blowing against the bite mark she knew was on her neck. She felt Sirius's tongue move against it soothingly, and she ran her hands through his hair again. Alex only had a few seconds to enjoy the feeling before the reality of his weight on top of her came crashing in. She abandoned his hair to claw at his shoulders.

Suddenly he wasn't on top of her. She opened her eyes to find herself sprawled out on top of him instead. He pushed her off of his chest into a sitting position as she spoke, "Sirius?"

"When will you learn to trust me?" he whispered. She didn't respond as his hands moved to her hips. He lifted her up slowly, and she gasped as her hands flew to his stomach for support. Her eyes widened as he let her fall back down again.

He grinned, "Feel good, Love?" She didn't trust herself to speak, so she simply nodded. He lifted her up again as he spoke, "Don't be shy."Alex took the hint and moved back down again, moaning as she did so.

She was greatly enjoying herself. In the matter of a few minutes, she had reduced the normally very controlled Sirius Black into a moaning mass beneath her. She looked down to study him, and saw that his gaze was roaming up and down her body. Suddenly he closed his eyes and let his head fall back as he groaned. His lips stayed parted and his eyes stayed closed, and suddenly Alex couldn't resist kissing him.

She ran her hands up from his stomach to his chest and leaned forward to capture his lips with hers. He responded immediately, kissing her back with fervor. After a while, Sirius tore his lips away from hers with a gasp. He tensed up, and Alex suddenly felt herself being pulled forward. She found herself lying on top of him with her head nestled against his shoulder and his arms wrapped around her. She pressed kisses against his neck until he turned his head to capture her lips again.

They laid in silence for a while, until Sirius laughed, "Well, Love, I sincerely hope that you keep your promise to do that often."

"Mmhmm," she could only manage a noncommital noise as she snuggled further against him. The feel of his breathing and his hands running across her skin made her relax. The last thing Alex felt before she drifted off to sleep was Sirius pressing a kiss to her temple.

--------------------

Sirius had extracted himself from Alex's grip in order to go make something to eat. He turned the wizarding wireless on as he rummaged through the refrigerator. He listened to the usual news: droning on and on about the war. He stopped dead, however, as what he was waiting for came on:

_Earlier this evening we brought you the report of the very heavily mutilated body of a well-known and respected mediwizard being found in his own front yard. The case has moved dramatically forward since midday today when it was opened. The body of one Doctor Shawn Douglas was found by his wife of two years shortly after lunchtime today. He had set out for Gringotts of Diagon Alley earlier in the morning, and was found with a bag of money. This puts the time of death right in the middle of the day._

_One might ask how it is possible to torture and murder someone in the middle of the day out in the open. To do this in a person's own front lawn with their family mere yards away without being discovered is almost unheard of. The answer to how such a thing is possible seems to all lie with **who** did it. Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and recipient of the Order of Merlin First Class among other distinctions, believes that the infamous mass murderer and Azkaban escapee Sirius Black is responsible for the brutal murder of this respectable member of the wizarding community. Black's former mentor and longtime acquaintance, Alastor Moody, also agrees that this murder appears to be the work of the infamous right hand of You-Know-Who. Moody, a famous and widely respected auror, says that under the circumstances he would be very surprised if Black wasn't the one who murdered Doctor Douglas. The auror still holds his position that Black is innocent of the charges he was put into Azkaban for, however, which shows bias for Black and greatly reduces his credibility._

_What exactly are the circumstances that Moody speaks of? He referred us to Headmaster Dumbledore to get this answer. The headmaster very politely stated that he would not be releasing the nature of Black's relationship with the mediwizard. Public records from St. Mungos does record an appointment the doctor had with a woman that Sirius Black is known to be connected to, although it does not release the nature of the appointment. We must ask ourselves if anything that could have happened in a simple doctor's visit would warrant the torture, mutilation, and eventual murder of the doctor._

_The horrific death of Doctor Shawn Douglas is another example of how the war with You-Know-Who is ongoing despite the demise of the Dark Lord himself. Even today innocent people are dying at the hands of extremist supporters of the dark side. Even though this is the first definite involvement of Sirius Black we have heard of since his escape from Azkaban Prison nearing a month ago, law enforcement is still strongly encouraging the population to be wary of him. This latest murder of an innocent on his record if just a taste of what this dangerous criminal is capable of. As always, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is working tirelessly to capture the death eaters responsible for this war. After the hiding away of the Boy-Who-Lived, one must wonder if the people in charge of our society think it safe for anyone. If the savior of the wizarding world has been shuttled away, what hope is there for the rest of us? _

Sirius was absolutely fuming by the end of the report. It was true enough that he had tortured the man within an inch of his life and then finally murdered him when he couldn't think of any other ways to cause him pain, but Dumbledore covering up the motive infuriated him. He wondered if so many people would think it an unfounded murder of an innocent if they knew the whole story. The fact that people thought he was the right hand of Voldemort enraged Sirius even more. The only thing in the entire report that didn't make him want to kill someone (else) was hearing that Moody knew he hadn't betrayed the Potters or blown up that street.

The quite uncalled for (in Sirius's opinion) mention of Harry at the end did nothing for his mood. He had been systematically going through all of the possible candidates for adoptive parents in his head, and couldn't come up with the answer as to where Dumbledore had shoved his godson. If he ever figured it out, he would be hard-pressedto not kidnap him.

He was brought out of his depressing thoughts when a tiny body pressed into his from behind. Arms wrapped around his waist as thefamiliar voice of Alex spoke, "What's wrong?"

He often thought that it was a good thing he hadn't had anything so far he wanted to hide from her, because she could feel every single fleeting emotion he felt. He sighed, "According to the news I randomly murdered a wonderful member of the community in cold blood for no apparent reason."

Alex surprised him by laughing, "I hardly think what they think about that is going to blemish your _perfect_ record."

He frowned, "I think anytime that man is mentioned I'll get mad no matter what."

"There's something else," she maneuvered her way in front of him.

"I want Harry," Sirius didn't even try to deny that something was wrong, "I'm his **godfather**. I **took an oath** that I would protect him if anything ever happened to his parents. Now that I've fucked everything up and they're dead, I don't even know where he is."

Alex grabbed his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. He met her eyes as she spoke, "I know you want Harry. If we ever figure out where he is I'll gladly help you get him, but I want you to know one thing...It is not your fault. None of it ever would have happened if Wormtail hadn't made the decision to support Voldemort."

"I love you," Sirius was constantly amazed at how a few sentences from Alex could make him feel phenomenally better than anything else ever could.

She opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by a shrill whistle. They immediately covered their ears, but it was to no avail. Reality kicked in for Sirius along with a chill running down his spine. He grabbed Alex's hand and made a break for the bedroom. She didn't resist him, but he could feel the confusion coming off of her in waves. As soon as the bedroom door slammed behind him, he hit it with as many complex locking charms as he could think of.

He dropped Alex's hand and ran to his side table, "If anything is important to you I suggest you grab it right now."

She didn't make a move, but looked at him with growing dread, "What's happening?"

"People who want to hurt me are breeching the wards," he continued digging in his night stand. He couldn't believe that he could find his ring anytime he opened this drawer, but that when he really needed to find it, it was no where to be seen.

He could feel the heightened fear coming from Alex, "What?"

He was by now throwing things out of the drawer, "The alarm goes off when someone who wants to hurt the master of the house tries to get in." He seriously regretted putting up anti-teleportation wards. Finally growing too frustrated, he yelled, "Where the fuck is it!"

"Where's what?" a quiet voice came from right behind him. Alex had migrated closer to him since learning what was going on.

"My ring! It's the only thing that will protect us through the wards!...The one fucking morning I don't wear it..." he trailed off as he continued his search.

Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice rang out, "Watch your backs! He's here and he's cornered!"

Sirius began a constant stream of profanity. An idea came to Alex, "We can just walk through the wards."

He stopped his search long enough to stare at her as if she were crazy, "Do you know how long it would take to bring them down! We'd be caught!"

Alex shook her head, "They already broke them down. There's a place where they came through!"

Sirius's eyes widened as he grasped onto what she was saying, and he immediately moved to the window. "I know from experience that the aurors would only come through the front gate because that's where the wards are most frequently broken down. It's the weakest spot of any location, and they know the wards around the rest of this house would be too strong for them to break through with any immediate success."

Alex nodded her head. Sirius could feel how frightened she was, so he pulled her into a demanding kiss. It only lasted a few seconds before he pulled away to climb out the window. He quickly descended a nearby trellis until he was close enough to the ground to jump. He looked up to see Alex already halfway down, and couldn't help the feeling of pride at how she stepped up to the situation despite the fear that would have paralyzed many people in her place. Running from trained hit wizards wasn't something a person was able to pick up whenever they needed to.

He brought on Padfoot's advanced senses in time to hear footsteps nearing the window right beside him. He quickly sent the message to Alex to jump. He felt her hesitation, but it only lasted for a second before she let go of the trellis and allowed herself to fall. He caught her as best he could, managing to stay steady despite the great height she had fallen from.

The person was directly on the other side of the wall from them. Sirius held his breath as he listened, and the worst possible thing happened as he heard the lock on the window being undone despite his hope that they would only think to check the interior of the house and not the exterior as well. He shoved Alex into the bushes right under the window, scrambling to follow her. He pressed her into the stones of the house, shielding her with his own body as he turned his eyes onto the window above them.

Alex's emotions were spinning out of control as she clutched at his robes and pressed herself as much as she could into him. They both sucked in their breaths as a man's head appeared out the window. They watched as he looked forward, and then from side to side. They both let out silent breaths as the man retreated back into the house.

Suddenly he heard Alex suppress a scream. He turned his head in time to see an enormous spider crawling up her bare leg. He killed it immediately, hoping that no one had heard her. The sound had been loud to him, but his own heightened senses couldn't judge how it would have sounded normally.

His gaze shot back up to the window in time to see the man's head reappear. He tensed as the man looked around. When the man finally glanced down at him, he expected him to shout. He was just about to cast the curse to kill the man as his mind worked furiously to come up with a new plan. Suddenly, he realized that the man wasn't shouting. Sirius stared at the man in disbelief. He was looking right at them! Was he **blind**! Sirius knew that wasn't the case and he couldn't think of any explanation, but he was sure as hell glad for whatever it was.

--------------------

A/N: Well, I'd hoped I could get lucky and have this out only a few days after the last update, but oh well. Alas, here it is now! I tried to post this all weekend, but it wouldn't let me. I realize that a lot of people frequently go weeks or even months between posts and I'm a bit better than that. However, I still feel like I'm beginning to let people down despite that, so I'll have to apologize profusely again. Now let me take the time to address something which I know my friends will ask about immediately upon reading:

Yes, I will be making up my own version of Mad-Eye Moody's apparently going crazy, retiring, and becoming plagued with paranoia (more than he was to begin with).


	16. Good to Know I Taught You Something

A/N: Since this is the chapter that really starts straying from obvious canon I thought I would just clarify exactly how this story will follow along with the books. I wasn't lying when I said that this would more or less follow along with the books, but there are a few things that have to be taken into account: the books don't give a lot (or any) background information on a ton of the characters, the books don't say what happened during the time I'm writing this in, and most importantly, the books are in Harry's point-of-view and he knows almost nothing about the wizarding world. Since all of the information in the books is something that Harry either reads (or hears from what Hermione reads, more likely) or is told by other people then his account can't be taken as 100 what happened no questions asked. He's already been proven wrong from what he thought about some things by learning new information. I plan on taking a **lot** of license with this story...it's already AU of course, but I'll also be adding history to some characters who lack it, making up personalities for some characters who are just names, and making new things happen. Having said that, the great majority of what happens to Harry in the books will still happen to him and he will still have the same relationships with most of the people. However, there will be a ton of other stuff going on...I'm just saying that he didn't know about it because it was kept from him, but you'll get exactly what that means later. For now just accept that this will pick up to be more or less canon as far as **Harry's point-of-view** is concerned once it gets to the point when he starts Hogwarts. Of course, there will be things going on in the background that he doesn't know about.

Also, there is a character actively thrown into this story in this chapter who I realize is OOC. I just figure that the character acts one way around Harry & Co., but that isn't necessarily his/her entire personality.

Chapter Sixteen

Alex opened her eyes when nothing happened. She had snapped them closed when the man had discovered them. When she had felt Sirius - whom she was clinging to for dear life - suddenly relax, however, she couldn't help but look. The auror had disappeared from the window again. She blinked in disbelief, but upon opening her eyes a second time found that the situation was the same.

"Sirius," she whispered, "what the hell is going on?"

He had an eyebrow raised in contemplation, and didn't answer her as he suddenly jumped to his feet. She almost reached up to try to yank him back down, but repressed the urge when he smiled. She watched as he waved into the window. Nothing happened.

She was about to question him, but he beat her to it, "Well, Love, it appears that you've been holding back on me."

She stared at him as if he were crazy, "What?" She was suddenly aware that he was speaking normally and she was whispering.

"That bit of magic you just pulled," he said with a grin, "was amazing. You'll have to tell me where you came up with this spell."

"Spell?" she was now beyond confused.

Sirius sighed and offered her his hand. She accepted, and was pulled to her feet to stand beside him. He was looking through the window again, and when she looked she saw that the auror was still in the room. He was, in fact, only a few yards away and looking in their general direction. "This spell. You know...the one that makes us apparently undetectable to human senses of sight and hearing at the very least," he elaborated.

She turned to face him fully, "I didn't do it."

"Well **I** didn't do it," he crossed his arms over his chest.

She frowned, "I hope you aren't implying that I'm **lying** to you."

His reply was cut off by the same commanding voice as before booming around the house, "Unit A start searching for hidden tunnels and safe rooms. Unit B take the outside."

He winced, and at her questioning look started speaking again, "Dog senses. It's like someone yelled at the top of their lungs right into my ear." They watched as an auror poked his head around the corner, followed by another, apparently trying to sneak. Sirius took her hand again, "I suggest we leave now and fight later. There's no telling how long this spell will last since neither of us appears to know what it is." He started to lead her out of the flowerbed and onto the grass.

She wholeheartedly agreed with him about escaping now, having grown weary of thinking she was about to die a long time ago. However, she didn't want to walk around in the open. "You expect me to just prance around in the middle of the yard?" she asked skeptically.

"Well, it isn't like I know right off the top of my head that this mystery spell of ours is going to hold up if I try to cast something else. I'd rather not find out the hard way, which means shields aren't an option. If it makes you feel better, though, I'll keep one right on my fingertips," he persisted in dragging her out of the flowerbed, using his much greater strength to his advantage.

Alex realized that it would be a fruitless endeavor to argue with him, so she opted for latching onto one of his arms. She stayed as close to him as she possibly could as he picked his way carefully through aurors. Their luck held out and they remained undetected as they slipped through the large expanse of the grounds. Alex began to calm down considerably as she became more comfortable with whatever spell they were under. No one had noticed them yet, and she was becoming more confident that no one would.

Sirius led her around the corner of the house, and finally the front gates came into view. Alex counted five young aurors standing guard, and she tensed as they walked closer. They approached without incident, and when they were finally only a few steps away from escape she finally allowed herself to feel relief. The young aurors, who had been chatting animatedly amongst themselves, were suddenly deathly quiet.

She chanced a glance to her side, and saw that they were staring at them with looks of shock. It felt like the pit of her stomach fell to her feet, but she didn't have time to actually react before she was shoved to the ground. She raised her gaze from the ground to the battle now going on around her.

She was looking through a shimmery wall that she assumed to be a shield courtesy of Sirius. He currently had a grin on his face as he battled the young aurors. He had only taken two of them down, and appeared to be enjoying his fight with the remaining three. Alex had never had the opportunity to really watch him in action since every time he had fought while she was nearby she had been either too afraid to look or unconscious. It occurred to her that Sirius really was in his element while fighting. He dodged spells and cast his own without breaking the rhythm he had created. If Alex could have ignored the frightened and clumsy aurors around him, she would have said that he looked beautiful. Even though beautiful wasn't really the correct word to describe him and he would probably be offended if he knew she was thinking it.

Even while completely caught up in watching Sirius, she couldn't have missed seeing the complete force of aurors that was running towards them with wands raised. Sirius had his back to the approaching danger, but the young aurors he was facing had seen the others coming to their rescue and Sirius had definitely noticed the looks of relief pass over their faces. His grin dissolved into a completely serious and stern face that gave no appearance of the man wearing it actually having feelings. He took down the auror closest to him and turned to the next one. Just as his spell hit the young man, the third auror's spell hit him. Alex watched in suspended horror for his reaction to the spell, but none came. He turned his head towards the man who had cast it, and muttered one of his own.

Now that the guards were taken care of, they really had no time to waste unless they wanted to take on an entire army of hit wizards. Alex was on her feet even before Sirius had effectively taken the shield down, and as soon as she was free she ran the remaining steps out the gate and outside the anti-apparation and anti-teleportation wards. Sirius grabbed her around the waist, and suddenly the feeling that she was being dragged along at the speed of light through space came to her. It only lasted a few seconds before the ground was suddenly rushing towards her.

She felt pressure around her waist, and looked up to realize that Sirius had caught her. He frowned as he noticed her staring at him, "I'm sorry, Love. I didn't mean to have you face down the entire force of aurors. It all just happened so fast."

"It's alright. I'm perfectly fine," she wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest.

A few moments of silence passed before he spoke again, "I think I know what caused that mystery spell."

She tilted her head to look at his face, "Pray tell."

"I think maybe I did do it. Not on purpose or anything, but that maybe my emotions were running so high that it just happened. Things like that have happened before, although not like **that**. It normally involves blowing up the thing I'm worried about, not hiding me from it," he paused as one of her hands came up to brush a lock of hair out of his eyes, but continued once she stopped distracting him, "My emotions were high the whole time we were sneaking around, but when we were close to the gate I wasn't afraid anymore because I thought we were as good as free. That's when the spell gave out."

Alex was only quiet for a few seconds, "Sirius?"

"Yes, Love?" he caught her eyes.

"Do you think that maybe my emotions caused it to happen, too? Because I felt exactly as you just described," she watched as a contemplative look came onto his face.

Presently, he answered her, "Well, you have been getting stronger lately. Emotions always cause my power to go crazy and almost out of control, so I don't see why that isn't what happened to you. We are supposed to be stronger together, after all."

She nodded, but already had another question for him, "Where are we?"

"Black family safe house...well, it's a safe _hole_ really since it's underground. No one will find us here," he removed himself from her arms as he spoke, "Now we just have to take the wards down to get in. This might take a while if I know anything about my family, and I do, unfortunately."

----------------------

Sirius had proven himself right about it taking a while when they were finally able to walk through the door over two hours later. He took one glance at the room they entered before sending an army of cleaning charms to attack every speck of dust in the entire building. After the place was relatively clean, he headed for the bedroom. Exhausted, he threw himself onto the bed, landing on his stomach and not moving again.

The next thing he knew, there was a scream and something clawing at his arm. He was hardly able to react before he was tossed off the bed. He opened his sleep laden eyes to stare at the ceiling as he eventually found the energy to pick himself up. Alex was sitting up in bed clutching her chest with the sheets tangled around her waist.

"What the fuck?" was the first thing he managed to croak out. He mentally kicked himself as she turned wide eyes on him and he realized what he had said and to whom. He sighed in resignation of the fact that it was highly improbable that he would be allowed to sleep at this point. He crawled back onto the bed and reached for her hands, "What is it?"

She continued to stare at him, offering no response to his question. He reached out to push her hair out of her face, and she caught his wrist as he was pulling back. He was too surprised to make an attempt to pull away as she examined the deep scratches running along his skin. By the time he was able to react, she had already seen the damage she had inflicted.

He watched helplessly as tears welled up in her eyes. "It's fine, Love, I'm not hurt. Don't cry," when she didn't stop, he tried again, "It's really nothing, Love. Here, look, it'll take me all of ten seconds to heal it." He started to mutter the incantation, but she stopped him by grabbing his arm again.

She healed it herself, taking special care to inspect him thoroughly for any more injuries. She kissed his wrist, making him look down. Sirius watched with greatly growing interest as she ran her tongue along the still slightly visible marks running up his arm. He couldn't resist wrapping an arm around her back to pull her closer. She took the incentive and continued kissing up his arm while she moved in front of him.

Sirius waited with increasing impatience as she got closer to his face. When she nipped his collar bone, he finally couldn't wait anymore. He pulled her up to his face, catching her lips with his. He gave it a few seconds, but eventually he couldn't just ignore her unresponsiveness.

He pulled back, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she answered immediately, but under his withering gaze she eventually relented with a whisper, "No."

"Tell me what's wrong, Love," he trusted her to pick up on the slight pleading tone that no one else (who was still alive) could pick up on.

She shrunk back from him, retreating to the foot of the bed and bringing her knees to her chest. She lowered her eyes to stare at the comforter as she spoke, "I don't know."

Sirius had no idea how to help someone who didn't know what was wrong with themself. He finally came up with a suitable question, "Well, why did you throw me off the bed?"

"I woke up and you were holding me down," she still wasn't looking at him.

Well, that explained why she'd mauled his arm if he'd had it thrown over her. If he'd been held down and had done to him what had happened to her, he would have a fear of being trapped, too. Sirius crawled closer to her. "I don't know how to help you," he admitted softly.

"I don't think you can," she replied softly, "I'm going to be afraid, freak out, and attack people for touching me forever."

Something in Sirius's mind clicked. He reached out and pulled her flush against his chest, "I'm touching you. In fact, I'm squeezing you into my chest and I have absolutely no intention of letting you go. You're **_trapped_**," he whispered the last part directly into her ear.

She tilted her head to stare at him, "Sirius..."

He wasn't done yet, and he tangled his hand into her hair as he cut her off with a kiss. He pulled her up the bed, laying her down on the pillows and covering her with his body. He used his weight to hold her down, effectively releasing his hands from holding her. He trailed one down her body, not pausing before he ran it under the long shirt she was wearing. Her hands wiggled between them and clutched at his shirt as his hand trailed up her thigh.

After a few minutes, he decided to speak again, though not letting up his assault on her body as he did so, "Am I hurting you?" She didn't answer articulately, but managed to shake her head in the negative. Sirius nibbled on the side of her neck, "That's because I would never hurt you, Love."

She didn't answer right away, and soon she didn't have the chance. His head shot up when they were interrupted by a loud crash from the living room. Her hands clutched tighter to his shirt as she sucked in a frightened breath. He disentangled himself from her quickly, looking over his shoulder at her as he was exiting the room, "Stay here!"

The hallway was dark, but Sirius didn't dare use any kind of light. He let a fingertip trail along the wall to feel his way as he moved along without a sound. He rounded the corner carefully, straining his eyes for any hint of what had caused the noise. However, he couldn't see anything at all. He stilled his mind and concentrated on hearing anything out of the ordinary. A thumping sound came from behind him. He spun around to face whatever was behind him, and ran straight into a person.

He immediately struck out at the intruder, who hit him with a spell which he felt the impact of, but felt no effects from. He didn't stop to think about it, and hit the person with a rather painful curse of his own. A muffled sound of hurt came from the other person. Sirius managed to move soundlessly to another location so the intruder wouldn't know where he was. He made sure to keep facing the person's general location, and when he felt it was safe he said the command to turn on all the lights.

The person wasn't where he or she was supposed to be. He immediately spun around, only to come face to face with the person he least expected to see. He was standing not three feet away from Alastor Moody.

Sirius's managed to pick his jaw up off the floor as they regarded each other. Eventually, Moody broke the silence with a gruff laugh, "Good to know I taught you something, boy!"

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "Which something? Moving around was your idea and all, but that curse was mine."

"And it's one you'll have to enlighten me on," Moody suddenly turned serious, "What are you doing here?"

"It's **my** house," Sirius said, crossing his arms in challenge.

Moody regarded him with a stern look, but rephrased his question, "What are you doing to yourself? Do you know how much you've devastated the people around you?"

Sirius had never been furious at his mentor before, but he suddenly found himself so, "I wasn't devastated at all by the death of my best friend and his wife, the discovery of a traitor among us, and losing Harry. I wasn't even upset in the least about being sent to **Hell** without a trial or even a _chance_ to defend myself. So, you know what, I think you're right. Everyone who sat back and watched it happen has every right to be devastated, and I should spend the rest of my life trying to make up for causing _them_ pain!"

"You may or may not have given up the Potters or blown up Pettigrew, but you sure as hell **did** torture, mutilate, and murder that healer!" Moody advanced on him.

Sirius stood his ground, his eyes blazing as he felt power reacting to his emotions, "I did."

"He saved that girl's life, and you repaid him by killing him!" Moody was standing only a few inches away from him, glaring at him despite Sirius's enormous height advantage.

The last words of the mediwizard echoed in Sirius's mind. He had thought it a desperate attempt to save his own skin. Realizing it was true threw him for a loop. He knew that he should feel guilty for having killed the man, but all he could think about was anger that someone had hurt or allowed Alex or the baby to be hurt enough to need saving in such a way. "I won't apologize," as Sirius said it, he realized it to be completely true, "Whether or not you can accept it is up to you, but I won't allow you to try and do anything about it. I'd rather not kill you, too, though. I happen to like and respect you, and you're about the only one."

Moody stared at him in contemplation. Sirius joined in the glaring contest that lasted until the auror finally broke the silence. "Sirius," the old man's look softened as much as his gruff battle-scared face would allow, "I'm sorry."

Sirius was at least mildly shocked. Moody never apologized. He stared at him, "For what? As far as I can tell, you've stood up for me."

Moody shook his head, "Words mean nothing. It's what you accomplish that counts, and I didn't manage to do anything. I'm sorry for giving away your position."

"You did **what**?" Sirius felt the fury in him rising again.

"I shouldn't have been so weak, so thoughtless," the auror hastened to continue, "It was Veritaserum. They slipped it in my drink."

Sirius's jaw dropped, "They slipped it in **_your_** drink?"

"It just goes to show that you need **CONSTANT VIGILANCE** even among friends," he roared his catchphrase.

Sirius spent a few minutes trying to convince the old man to tell his story. When Moody finally started talking, it was like the floodgates had opened. He told how he had immediately stood up for his favorite student - Sirius was honored to be called this - but how no one had believed him. He had requested a trial at first, and when they had immediately turned down his idea he had asked to talk to Sirius himself. They had laughed right in his face at that. When Sirius broke out of prison - which, by the way, Moody thought was absolutely brilliant - they had immediately accused him of releasing him, but when that had been proven false they had simply shuffled him into odd jobs to get him out of the way of the investigation.

Moody said that he had thought he was to be shunned by the entirety of wizarding society, but then had received an invitation personally delivered by Minerva McGonagall to dine at Hogwarts. He told how he had argued with Minerva about whether or not Sirius was innocent, and that she had left rather hastily and they were now on bad terms. He said that the dinner at Hogwarts had been attended by department heads and ministry officials from every field. Sometime during the general mingling after the meal, he had found himself insulting a great many people with the truth. Bartemius Crouch had cornered him and managed to discover a great deal of information about Sirius, including a list of locations that Moody thought he would be most likely to inhabit. A further analysis of his drink proved that it was Veritaserum.

"...I, of course, escaped as soon as I could, though the damage had already been done. I tried to reach you, but one man isn't enough to get through all the wards on that house - splendidly done, by the way - so I could do little to help. I packed my bags and came here because I knew no one could find it and I didn't want to be found," Moody concluded his story.

Even though the fact that this man had sacrificed both his good name and probably his career to stand up for him humbled Sirius, self-preservation was still at the forefront of his mind, "Surely you listed this place as a location?"

"Ah, yes, indeed I did. It is the _most_ obvious choice for safety, my boy," the old man agreed, "However, this place is completely untraceable by those who don't already know where it is, and that is one of the many secrets your family has never let out."

Relieved to have his mentor's seal of approval on their current location, Sirius grinned, "Except for me, you mean."

Moody's mouth twisted into the closest version of a smile that he could manage, "No, but then you were always an indignant bastardized rebel by your family's standards."

"And here I was thinking that it was by everyone's standards," Sirius rolled his eyes.

Moody's lip quirked, "Well, it worked out brilliantly in the end, despite the circumstances."

Memories of a moonless night with blood flowing out of wounds on both of them and death eaters pursuing them closely flooded into his mind. It had been a close call, one of his first excursions into an official battle. He had been forced against his better judgement to bring his partner to the Black family's safe house in order to save both of their lives. Luckily, Moody had turned out to be one of the most trustworthy people he knew.

Sirius's response to Moody was cut off by a gasp from the doorway. The both spun around to see Alex staring at Moody with wide eyes. Sirius realized that the situation didn't look good. Moody and he were facing each other with wands drawn. He moved to block the old man from Alex, not wanting her to do anything to him.

"Love, this is Alastor Moody. Moody, this is Alexandrea," he performed the introduction awkwardly.

She stood perfectly still, still staring at the auror as if he were from her nightmares. Sirius walked towards her, but got no response. He reached out to put an arm around her waist, and led her towards the sofa. He gestured for Moody to take a seat as he did himself.

He carried on conversation with his mentor as well as could be expected with fingernails digging into his arm (again). Sirius was a bit surprised by her reaction. He knew that she was wary of other people, but had never expected that she would be completely terrified of sitting in the same room with someone who he obviously liked and trusted. Suddenly, her voice was in his head, "I thought no one could find us here."

Sirius was at first surprised at the first spoken words she had been able to send to him in two month's time, but eventually the words registered in his mind. The conversation had settled into a silence anyway, so he turned to Alex to answer out loud, "I brought Moody here during a battle gone wrong once. I have to say that I'm glad he showed up, even though he wasn't invited."

The old auror chuckled at the obvious barb, "I was just as surprised to see you here. I figured you would have fled the wizarding world and the continent altogether."

"I have unfinished business," Sirius replied vaguely. The room fell into silence again, and Sirius sighed as he used an obvious host topic, "I'm going to pour myself something strong. Do you want anything?"

Alex didn't bother to respond, knowing that he knew her preference (or lack thereof) of drink. Moody, on the other hand, answered in the negative, "I have my own."

Sirius watched as he pulled a flask out of his coat pocket. He raised an eyebrow, "Oh, great! Does this mean that you're going to be even more of a paranoid git! Damn Bartemius Crouch to Hell for his underhanded tactics!" He gestured wildly to emphasize his point.

Moody ignored Sirius's addition of this new development to his arsenal of ways to make fun of him for being paranoid. Instead, he simply took a drink, "I'll have my own just the same, Black."

Sirius shook his head in laughter as he walked across the room to the bar and selected one of his favorite drinks. When he turned back around to face Alex and Moody, they were observing each other with critical glares. He sighed as he walked back over to take his seat. It was going to be a long night no matter how glad he was to have his two current favorite people around.

------------------


	17. Who Is and Isn't Dangerous

Chapter Seventeen

It was almost four in the morning when Alex decided that she was going back to bed. She kissed Sirius's lips chastely, but he would have none of that and pulled her back down for a proper kiss. It went on for some seconds before Moody cleared his throat uncomfortably. Alex broke away from him immediately and spun around to walk out the door, not even acknowledging Moody's presence as she left. Sirius watched her retreating form disappear around the corner.

Sirius watched as Moody's magical eye swivelled to search for her, and presently turned back on him. The auror spoke gruffly, "Well, I see that you're still with her." Sirius didn't feel the need to grace that with a response, so he leveled a glare at the man instead. They both stayed quiet for a while, until Moody decided to speak again, "You 'd be hard pressed to find a better looker, I'll give you that. However, aside from the fact that I never thought I'd see the day when you picked one woman, I don't think that this one's a good idea."

Sirius bristled, "Oh? Why ever not?"

"She's dangerous, Black! I could feel the energy radiating off of her from all the way over here!" Moody exclaimed.

"That automatically means she's dangerous?" Sirius didn't bother to mask the furious energy now crackling off of him. He watched in satisfaction as the auror felt it.

Moody looked him right in the eye, "You're dangerous, too, most of the time, but you know what you're doing. That girl is emotionally unstable! She was holding herself back from tearing apart the room!"

"After what they did to her I'm amazed she even managed to sit in the same room with you at all. She was never trusting, but after what she's been through she went through a stage of not even trusting _me_ to be around her," Sirius defended Alex's position.

"I'm not trying to tear you apart from you little lover, Sirius," Moody surrendered, "I was just offering the opinion of one much more experienced in matters of who is and isn't dangerous."

Sirius laughed, "Says the man who let someone slip Veritaserum into his drink in the middle of a Ministry party."

"Says the man who got himself thrown into Azkaban!" the old man rebutted.

Moody immediately realized his poor taste when Sirius paled dramatically even for a Black. The situation could only be described as one of the times when he was blatantly dangerous. His eyes were glowing maliciously and his hands were clenched into fists as he struggled to keep his emotions in check. He didn't succeed completely as books flew off the shelves and other small objects flew around the room.

Moody allowed time for his former protégée to calm down before speaking, "I'm sorry, Sirius, I shouldn't have said that."

Sirius glared at him hatefully, daring him to speak again. The frown continued to grace his face as he took enough control of himself to speak, "You have no right to tell me what to do or who to see. Furthermore, you have **no** right to judge her. I might like you, but I would gladly kill you rather than see her get so much as a paper cut, and I would do it with a **smile** if it made her happy. I suggest you remember who you're speaking to, Moody, because it's been a hell of a long time since I was the boy you warned against the danger of sleeping around and leaving myself vulnerable to so many people, and I no longer require your advice on who I'm with."

"Kill me simply to make her happy, would you!" the auror exclaimed, "Can't you see what she's done to you! The Sirius Black I knew wouldn't even think such a thing!"

Sirius's expression didn't change, "I have to wonder how well you presume to know me. I was a killer before you even met me. Not that this is relevant to the subject, but you can't blame either her or me for your belief that it was only the people on the lists you gave me who died."

"Was I also wrong to think you would never betray your friends? I'm beginning to think it wouldn't be a stretch for you to blow up that street either!" Moody jumped from his seat.

Many faces flashed in Sirius's mind as he thought of all of the people who had crossed his path over the years, "Even people who have no idea what they are defending get in the way sometimes. Hired guards, parents, spouses...they may or may not have had any idea that the person they were trying to defend was a death eater, but I didn't have time to find out and I couldn't leave them alive for obvious reasons. That doesn't mean I support Voldemort, and I would **never** betray James and Lily!"

Moody stared at him, "People on the light side don't kill people without proof, Sirius! Death eaters kill innocents! What you appear to have done isn't any better!"

"It's **war**, people **die** in war! If all the death eaters were guilty of was believing that their world would be better without certain people in it then I wouldn't raise a finger against them. The dispute breaking into war was my license to kill them, not their beliefs. I don't pretend that killing people without concrete proof was the right thing for me to do, but don't you dare try to pretend that the light side always conducts a thorough investigation before acting!"

Sirius watched as understanding of his words came into Moody's eyes, "Point taken. They threw you into Azkaban without so much as a testimony, but you can't honestly believe that it's happened to many more people. You're lowering yourself to something little better than a death eater!"

"I think the death eaters are perfectly justified in killing aurors and other people who are a threat to them because it **is** war. Just because you aren't on their side doesn't mean that them killing aurors is cold-blooded murder and you killing death eaters isn't," Sirius glared defiantly at the old man, "What they do wrong is attacking innocent people who aren't involved in the war just because they don't like them and without having any arguable reason to do it other than for their own twisted glee. That's why I turned away from my family...they believed that such actions were right. I just happened to learn the valuable lesson along the way that pureblooded wizards weren't any better than my 'impure' friends."

"Are you saying you're on the dark side!" Moody exclaimed in disbelief.

"No," Sirius replied calmly, "I'm on my own side. I'm dropping any affiliation with other people. If I want to kill a death eater I will, if I want to kill a member of the Order I will, and the only people I can guarantee are safe from me are people who have nothing to do with the war. You can either accept it or reject it, Moody, but you can't pretend that the Ministry is the best option. I know how you feel about the entire establishment, and you can't fool me into believing that you've changed your mind about how the whole thing needs to be overthrown. The Ministry is chocked full of death eaters anyways."

Moody's magical eye swivelled furiously - something that Sirius knew to be a nervous habit of the auror's. He looked to be about to respond, but suddenly his eye stopped moving and he grimaced. A fraction of a second later, a huge wave of fear almost knocked the breath out of Sirius. He stood and headed for the doorway immediately. He stopped long enough to look at Moody once more, "Think about it, Moody, and we'll talk later. Don't think you can get away with it if you try to do anything to either Alex or me, though. You know you'll never get out without my permission now that I've sealed the wards, so I suggest you make yourself comfortable."

--------------------

Alex didn't even realize that she was awake until she was sitting up gasping for air. She hadn't had a nightmare since Sirius had come back. It was extremely vivid...she could still feel hands holding her down and unseen forces ripping her body apart from the inside out. As she became more aware she realized that tears were streaming unbidden down her face. She spun around to make a wild grab for the man next to her, and her breath hitched as she realized he wasn't there.

No sooner had she jumped off the bed to go find Sirius than the door burst open to reveal him. She watched as he took her in while he was entering the room fully and slamming the door behind him. He stopped, seemingly unsure of how she wanted him to handle the situation. Alex couldn't blame him for being cautious, she **had** freaked out several times when he tried to touch her, after all. She took a step towards him, and he took the invitation.

The next few seconds passed by quickly, before Alex could even fully comprehend what was happening. She was suddenly aware of his arms around her and his lips on her face. She felt herself being lifted, but before she even had time to realize what was happening he had already set her down again. She let him lay her down on the bed, not relinquishing her hold on him when he tried to pull away. He stopped trying to pull away and moved to lie at her side instead.

Everything was silent for several minutes. Sirius started placing short kisses along her neck. He succeeded in calming her down, and finally asked the question that she knew was coming, "What's wrong, Love?"

Alex really didn't feel like repeating it. Instead she buried her face in his chest, shaking her head in the negative as she did so. He readjusted his arms around her to pull her closer. In the long minutes that followed, Alex found herself trying to speak many times after getting her courage built up, but was never able to get a word out. She wished fervently that she was strong enough to send him thoughts, but thoughts of exactly why she was weak only made the horrible images replay in her head again.

Sirius suddenly tensed, "You're having nightmares again?"

Alex had already nodded her head to confirm his question and began to speak before she stopped short at the realization that he knew. He came to the realization a few seconds later, and was the one to voice the question, "When did you get strong enough to send me thoughts?"

"I don't know," she said after a few seconds of pondering, "I didn't mean to." She pulled away from his chest to look around the room. After selecting a target, she concentrated on summoning it. Within a few seconds, a shirt that had previously been thrown over the back of a chair came sailing through the air. It landed directly on her face, and she realized she could smell Sirius's scent on it. She turned to him with a grin after removing it, "I think I'm getting my senses back!"

He leaned in closer to her face, "Well, I can think of a few ways to celebrate." One of his fingers trailed along her neckline, and she looked down to see that she'd been giving him quite an indecent view. It was a good thing that she was past embarrassment around him. She laid back down and let his hand continue along its path as her heartbeat increased.

She was gasping for air several minutes later. It was only when Sirius moved to lean over her and she realized she couldn't move that she began to feel uncomfortable. She tried her best to make the feeling of panic go away, but to no effect. She didn't last over a minute before she was frantically pushing against his shoulders. Sirius reluctantly sat back on his knees and looked at her questioningly. Alex felt terrible even though the gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach was finally letting up and she could breathe easier.

"I'm sorry," she whispered pitifully.

She watched as Sirius studied her face before speaking, "I guess our earlier lesson didn't work?" He didn't give her time to answer before declaring, "Well, we'll just have to try harder, won't we?"

Before Alex had time to process exactly what his statement might entail, he had lowered himself heavily back onto her. She inhaled sharply as his weight beared down on her, and he looked up at her face with a grin, "I guess your strength is back, too." Alex didn't answer, but thankfully Sirius decided to be kind and released her from his arms to support himself with a hand. His free hand came up to finish unbuttoning the buttons on her shirt he hadn't already had his hands on.

Alex noticed that he was taking his sweet time, and finally let out a breath that sounded suspiciously like a hiss when he avoided touching her yet again. His eyes met hers again as a self-satisfied smirk formed on his lips, "I guess you can't be too afraid if you want something that bad."

Alex scowled at him, "Sirius!"

"Okay, fine, have it your way," he let out an over-exaggerated sigh before grinning again and leaning down very close to her ear, "What exactly is it that you want?"

Before she could answer, a crash followed by a string of violent exclamations came from somewhere else in the house, effectively ruining the mood. "Does he have to stay here?" she asked with no small amount of disdain in her tone.

"I like him," Sirius replied stubbornly.

"Well, he doesn't like me," Alex said hotly.

A smile tugged at Sirius's lips as he bent down and pressed kisses along her neck, "No, he doesn't. Truth be told, Love, I doubt he likes _me_ right now."

"I don't want him near me," she stated with the hint of a threat now lacing her voice.

Sirius pulled back as little as he possibly could to be able to see her face, "Is it because you're uncomfortable being around people or just because he rubbed you the wrong way?"

Right after he said it, Alex heard him mutter something about what a horrible idea mentioning rubbing anything at all was in a situation like this, but chose not to comment on the fact that he was talking to himself. Instead, she concentrated on answering the question he had presented her, "It's true that I don't want to be around people in general, but that man looked at me all night like he was planning the best way to get rid of me."

"I asked him a question that I expect him to answer tomorrow morning...er, later this morning, I mean...If he doesn't answer the right way I'll throw him out with every possible assurance that he won't mention anything to anyone at all," Sirius said in what Alex knew was a sincere promise no matter if he personally wanted the man gone or not.

She only had a few seconds to appreciate the fact that he would do so much for her before he spoke again, "So, I guess you aren't too uncomfortable."

"Not with you. Not right now," she answered without giving him any promise that she didn't know whether or not she could keep.

He ran a hand down her stomach, causing her to flinch involuntarily at the memories that she was trying desperately to fend off. He sighed and shifted to lie at her side, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer. She looked at him questioningly until he pressed a kiss to her forehead, "Go to sleep, Love." When she opened her mouth to speak, he cut her off, "I want to make you better. I don't want to take advantage of you when all you can think of is the past. If you don't freak out while you're sleeping and throw me across the room, then you won't be able to keep me away from you next time."

Alex couldn't very well argue with that, so instead she shifted into a more comfortable position resting on his shoulder. Her last thought before drifting off was that the arms holding her in place didn't scare her at all.

--------------------

Sirius woke up to the feeling of something on his chest. He cracked an eye open to see what the offending object was, and was met with the sight of white-blonde hair fanned out all over him. Upon further examination, he found that Alex was curled up with most of her body on top of him and her legs tangled with his.

He simply looked at her for several minutes, before she mumbled something and shifted in a way that wasn't at all comfortable for him. With a sigh, he rolled over slowly and deposited her on her side on the bed. It took him a minute of very careful maneuvering to get his arms and legs free, but he couldn't bring himself to wake her up.

When he was finally free, he drug himself off the bed and into the kitchen. He entered only to see Moody sitting at the table with a steaming cup of coffee sitting before him. Sirius made his way to the refrigerator, speaking as he stuck his head inside, "Have a pleasant morning?"

He could almost hear the scowl in Moody's voice, "I still don't agree with you."

"So you'll be trying to stop me now?" Sirius asked as he emerged from the fridge with a frown of displeasure.

He turned around in time to see Moody shake his head in the negative, "You have the right idea, Sirius, by being on your own side. That's really all any of us can do. You can't trust anyone but yourself."

"No, you can't even really trust the people you trust the most," he looked at the auror with a pointed look, "I don't trust you not to turn on me."

"You should be turned in, that's for sure, but I won't do it. I may not agree with everything you've done, but I understand why you did it," Moody set down his coffee mug as he turned to face Sirius fully, "Is the girl sticking around?"

Sirius frowned at the abrupt change of subject and the direction it was taking, "It isn't an option for her to leave anymore. If she ever wants to leave I won't stop her, but I doubt I'd survive it."

Moody frowned back at him, "You're really so dependent on her? That's not healthy, Sirius!"

"Maybe it's not," he glared at his mentor, "but would you rather I turn out an old fool all alone in the world like you just because I'm afraid of letting anyone into my life?"

Moody stared at him for a few moments, ultimately deciding to change the subject, "How long are you going to stay here?"

"I don't know," Sirius went along with the new conversation, "I need to go to Gringotts. All the money I had was at the house."

"You think you can disguise yourself enough to go into Diagon Alley?" Moody asked incredulously.

Sirius shook his head, "I never said anything about Diagon Alley as a whole. I was just going to apparate to Gringotts."

The auror continued to stare, "Do you not realize how guarded the place is?"

"No one thinks I'll have the balls to go out into public, much less to the bank. Anyways, it isn't as if I don't have a huge amount Polyjuice Potion lying about for just this sort of thing," Sirius elaborated.

Moody chuckled, "The strategic mind as always. You always did come up with the most well though out plans."

Sirius felt the usual pride that swelled up when he received praise from his mentor, but didn't have a chance to answer as a hand came to rest on his shoulder. "Good morning, Love," he put his hand on hers and brought her around to face him.

"Good morning," she replied tightly.

Sirius looked up to see Moody staring at Alex intently. He decided to tell her of his plan, no time like the present after all. Especially when you need to create a diversion. He spoke loud enough for both of them to hear, "I'm going to go to Gringotts today, Love. Do you want to go?"

She didn't even bother to whisper her question, "Is _he_ going?"

"Yes, _he's_ going," the auror in question answered harshly.

Before a fight broke out, Alex smiled up at him, "No, Sirius, I don't want to go. I think I'll just stay here and have a look around."

Sirius opted not to question her, knowing that such an action would manage to start the fight he'd been trying to avoid. Instead he kissed her soundly and said his goodbyes as he was ushering Moody out the door.

--------------------

It took them less than an hour to get through the wards at the house, and it was just nearing lunchtime when they apparated into the wizarding bank Gringotts. Sirius was immensely glad that the lobby were mostly deserted. Even though he had faith in his ability to disguise himself, it was still uncomfortable to walk around in the middle of a crowd.

The goblin at the front desk didn't even question Sirius as he was handed the key and a short note, and Sirius was glad that he had chosen the same disguise as last time. The ride to the vaults was uneventful. However, once they had been inside the vault only a few minutes, another goblin came in and walked briskly up to Sirius. Sirius was handed a ledger and a key, which he took with curiosity to look over.

After a few seconds of reviewing, he trained his eyes back on the goblin, "She wasn't allowed to take this amount?"

"No, Master Black, she was turned away without a knut and we confiscated her key," the goblin answered him shortly.

"Good. From now on, if anyone at all who is not on my list requests entrance to or even simply information from any of my vaults I want you to contact me via owl immediately."

The goblin nodded, "As you wish, Master Black."

Sirius turned with a frown to glance at the ledger once more. Once he was satisfied of its contents, he waved a hand absently, "That will be all."

He set the ledger on a table and continued on to the back of the vault, fishing around in several drawers of a large dresser until he found what he wanted. He pocketed it with a smile, and turned back to face Moody, who was waiting for him by the door with a look of awe on his face.

"What?" Sirius asked as he walked past him.

The auror followed him back to the cart as he answered, "I've never seen that much money."

Sirius looked at him with amusement on his face, "It wasn't that much, Moody. It was my own personal vault when I left home. That was just the money left from my uncle and from various investments I've made over the past few years."

"You have more!" the auror asked loudly.

Sirius raised and eyebrow, "There are several Black family vaults. Why do you ask?"

Moody shook his head, "The Blacks have apparently kept their real financial status away from the Ministry."

"Well, most of it was obtained through less than honorable means," he informed the auror with a wry grin.

Neither said anything else the rest of the way up to the lobby and when they started their walk towards the door. The silence was probably what enabled Sirius to overhear the conversation going on between a witch and a wizard with their heads bent close together. Or it might have just been that his attention was already drawn to them in recognition. The hair color had immediately attracted him, and upon further inspection he had confirmed that it was Arthur and Molly Weasley.

Arthur seemed to be trying to calm his wife, "Molly, dear, there's nothing we can do."

The woman didn't appear to be calmed, "If you would just **speak** to Albus..."

"I already have, dear," her husband interrupted her.

Sirius's interest was peaked by the mention of the headmaster, and he strained his ears and slowed his pace to make sure he didn't miss a word of the conversation as Molly spoke again, "Oh, but surely he doesn't want the poor dear to grow up with muggles! A magical child's magic can't be suppressed!" Sirius stopped walking altogether at that statement.

"If the headmaster wanted us to have the boy I would gladly take him in, but he just simply doesn't want him in the magical community at all. We'll just have to trust his judgement, Molly," Arthur turned around to face forward in line as he obviously expected the conversation to be closed.

His wife, however, was definitely not ready to drop the subject, "What reason can he possibly have to make Harry grow up with muggles! And Minerva says they're the most horrible kind of muggles imaginable! She says she just can't see how dear, sweet Lily came from the same family as that awful woman!"

"I'm not going to question Albus Dumbledore's decisions, Molly," Sirius barely heard this last statement.

Alastor Moody turned to look at the man beside him, knowing that overhearing such a think would upset him. He was shocked to find that Sirius Black was nowhere to be seen.


	18. Creative Ability Being Stifled

Chapter Eighteen

The neighborhood looked completely normal. In fact, everything was so monotonous that Sirius thought it would be a crime to force people to live here. Every house, every bush, every mailbox...**everything** was the same. Sirius felt his creative ability being stifled just from looking down the street. He couldn't imagine actually living here. It was worse than James had described ( Lily had insisted on taking him to see his sister-in-law to try and make peace one last time).

Sirius had found Privet Drive with no problem, and he figured that counting to four wouldn't be too difficult either. His happiness at being able to find what he was looking for, however, was quickly snuffed out when he got his first glimpse of the family inside. The Dursleys were sitting on either side of an exceptionally fat baby that Sirius could only assume was Durley or Duddy or Dubby or Tubby or whatever their pee-brained little muggle kid's name was. They were cooing and awing over the little pig like he was the greatest thing in the world. Even if his life depended on it, Sirius couldn't figure out what he was doing that was so great.

The many fucked up adventures of Tubby wasn't what had Sirius's blood boiling, though. What had him really mad was how Harry was sitting in an armchair all by himself and no one was paying attention to him. What if he fell! What in bloody hell was the Dursleys' problem! Sirius forwent watching the family any longer as he headed for the door. He was going to take his godson and give him the life he deserved. Albus Dumbledore moved up a few notches on Sirius's list of people he was going to get revenge on.

Sirius was one stride away from knocking the Dursleys' door down when a voice stopped him, "He needs to stay here, Sirius."

He spun around to face Moody, not at all surprised at the interference, "Have you seen how they're treating him!"

"They're protecting him," the auror said decisively.

"You call neglecting him protecting him!" Sirius asked incredulously, a portion of his anger being redirected towards the man before him.

"It's the blood, boy," Sirius bristled at being called that, but felt his heart sinking at the same time. He knew the magic. He knew it well. Years of extensive research trying to find out why you're a freak even as far as magic goes leads you to discovering a lot of things that many wizards have no clue even **can** exist.

He peered through the window sadly. He was torn inside. He wanted nothing more than to take Harry. To spoil him, teach him all kinds of things that few wizards ever learned, and make him into an honorary Marauder good enough to make his father proud and his mother turn over in her grave. Then again, he would never forgive himself if something happened to Harry that could have been prevented had he stayed with these God forsaken muggles. He cursed the fact that someone so confident in his own abilities as himself should suddenly become afraid of keeping someone safe.

His heart clenched in his chest as he stared through the window. "I'm his godfather. I promised to take care of him," he declared weakly. He became unaware of his surroundings for just a few seconds as he refused to drag his eyes away from Harry.

All too soon, he was aware of Moody grabbing his wrist, "Come, Sirius. We don't know what you've done by coming here."

"What?" he demanded somewhat stupidly as he finally snapped out of his daze.

"There are close tabs kept on this place. I'm sure they've noticed your sudden appearance," Moody began to coerce him down the driveway towards the street, "Let's just hope we have a little luck. I'm sure they've already sealed the whole place where no one can apparate out without being tracked."

Sirius didn't have any comment to make on the subject since he wasn't willing to give up his secret of traveling and even if he said something there wasn't enough time for Moody to learn how to do it. Thinking back, he realized that just randomly teleporting in without so much as a shield around himself was incredibly stupid.

Sirius's mind was racing as he allowed himself to be pulled further down the sidewalk. He knew Harry would never be safe with him. That didn't change the fact that he would have a better life than he would ever have with the Dursleys.

Moody's next statement effectively made up Sirius's mind, "I honestly don't know what you were thinking, Black! What good would it do to drag the boy from one place to another while you're on the run? He'd never have a chance of joining wizarding society with an escaped convict. Hell, he'd never even have a chance to attend Hogwarts!"

That was that. Sirius couldn't steal the boy away from Hogwarts. If he had his own kids he would have no problem teaching them himself, but James and Lily could hardly wait until their son went off the Hogwarts. They had big plans for him. James said he was a quidditch star in the making, and Lily said he was cut out to be head boy. Sirius couldn't ruin their dreams. No matter how much it hurt him to leave. Especially if stealing Harry away meant he would have to leave the protection of his mother's blood. A dead Harry can't be a productive Harry, after all.

Apologies to James and Lily for failing so dreadfully ran around and around in his head. Surely they would rather their son be around respectable witches and wizards and have a chance at a respectable life rather than for him to be raised by a wanted murderer. The thought crossed his mind that he should go and visit them to apologize in person as well as he could given the circumstances. He came to a screeching halt when he realized that he had no idea where his best friend was even buried.

The auror who was dragging him along was effectively jerked to a stop as well. "What's your problem, Black!" came the supremely annoyed voice.

Sirius didn't respond. He reached out into Moody's mind to try and find the information he wanted. Almost immediately, the auror felt the intrusion. He fought back furiously, but Sirius didn't give up. Moody reached for his shoulders and shook him hard, apparently thinking that he was in some sort of daze. Although he wasn't out of his mind, it was true that Sirius was completely centered around the idea that he had to pry the information out of the auror. Moody would never tell Sirius voluntarily because of the rightly justified fear that he would go storming off to the location, so really he didn't have a choice except to force the issue.

Sirius grabbed the arms that were latched onto his shoulders. He hauled Moody closer to him, forcing the man to meet his eyes. A furious battle of minds and wills went on for longer than Sirius would have liked. Eventually, though, he felt the walls holding him out give way.

The next second, thoughts that were not his own flooded his mind. His head spun. He'd never broken anyone's mental walls before, and so he'd had no idea what to expect. He lost track of the long seconds as he fought to purge his mind of the thoughts he didn't want. He knew more about Moody than he ever would have cared to know now. When he finally found the piece of information he wanted, he broke both eye contact and physical contact with the auror. The endless flow of thoughts stopped. Moody crumpled to the ground. Sirius, however, was too distracted with his own feelings to notice. He teleported away with a heavy heart, leaving the shivering, crumpled form of Alastor Moody in the middle of Privet Drive.

--------------------

Alex had been looking at the portraits of various Black ancestors that hung on the wall in the entranceway for a while now. Although the paintings were quite amusing, she really wasn't interested in them at all. Looking at them was merely something to do while she hovered right beside the door.

It had come as quite a shock when the normally reassuring presence Sirius had in her mind had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. He had been happy one moment, and the next he had turned completely desperate. Alex had spent the past hour worrying herself half to death. She couldn't break through to him enough to get him to notice her unease, so she had no reassurance that he was alright. She had picked up on the fact that he was seeing Harry Potter, but after an enormous wave of pain and confusion she hadn't been able to make any sense out of his thoughts. As far as she knew, he was in a ditch somewhere. Or worse, recaptured. She couldn't distinguish enough from the jumbled messages she was receiving to even figure out if he was in danger. So she had resorted to pacing a hole into the floor in front of the door waiting for him to walk through it.

An unexpected wave of pain and sorrow assaulted her senses. It was worse than anything he'd sent her before. Alex cried out from the sheer power of the feelings. She didn't even know what was going on, and still she felt that she couldn't help but feel the same way he did just because he was in so much agony.

Alex didn't know how long it was before Sirius's thoughts finally eased up enough for her to know her own mind again, but it was long enough that she had tears streaming down her face just from his feelings. The abrupt break in his overwhelming feelings scared her so much that she didn't even notice the tears. She could reach his mind now, and it wasn't good. In fact, it was downright horrible. He wasn't even responding to the panicked feelings she was throwing at him as rapidly and as strongly as she could. It was like he had completely shut down.

Through the mist of nothingness coming from Sirius, one image suddenly came through loud and clear. An image of Harry Potter sitting in a chair. As it came more into focus, Alex could ascertain that Sirius was seeing the boy through a window. Her heart stilled. If he was around that baby there was no telling what he would do. Alex knew that when Sirius's mind was set on something very little could dissuade him and he would do anything necessary to attain what he wanted.

All too soon, another wave of pain hit her. The sheer strength of the agony brought her to her knees. She could do little else other than feel it with him. The shouts from the people in various portraits around her snapped her out of it enough for her to be able to try her best and buffer herself from the pain.

After a few minutes of intense concentration, Alex had enough control of her own mind to be able to function again. She struggled to her feet as the portraits continued to make comments to her – some encouraging, some curious, and some condescending. Alex ignored them all as she stumbled to the door. She managed to wrench the old, heavy iron door opened. Her disappointment and frustration were great when she was forcefully repelled by wards. She tried again, with the results containing the same lack of luck as the first time.

After a full minute of trying every way she knew to get past and/or take down the barriers, she had encountered no positive results. She hadn't even had the slightest indication that the wards had been affected even minimally. Alex did the only thing she knew to do – she screamed. The dull roar coming from the people in the portraits that had been constantly assaulting her ears suddenly stopped. When she finally stopped screaming to take a breath, all was silent.

One portrait finally found its voice again, "You there, girl, what are you doing!" The other portraits voiced their agreement with wanting to know.

Alex ignored them all as she renewed her assault on the wards. The people in the portraits were now variably screaming at her. She drowned all of them out with her own shrieks of frustration. It was finally all to much to take. Another wave of misery from Sirius hit her and she broke down.

Tears of pain, anger, and frustration spilled down her cheeks as she resorted to the childish solution of throwing a tantrum. She beat her fists violently against the solid barrier of the wards as she shrieked, "LET ME THROUGH!"

The people in the portraits were apparently horrified enough by her unacceptable outburst to have lost the ability to speak. Alex's strength suddenly gave out and she sank to the ground. She laid her head in her hands and sobbed.

When she finally had no more tears to cry, she leaned back against the solid ward, completely defeated. All she wanted was to get to Sirius. He was hurting and it was her responsibility to help him. She was supposed to be there to comfort him and tell him that everything was alright. He had let her become completely dependent on him for the past months, and now she couldn't even help him the one time he truly needed it. Alex's own despair paired with the feelings still pressing in around her from Sirius hurt so much that she wasn't even trying to suppress the pain anymore. It was useless anyways.

Her mind was in turmoil for so long that she had no concept of time. If she had a mind to figure out how long she sat on the cold stone floor, she would have been hard pressed to do it. She could think of nothing other than her desire to reach Sirius. She was frightened half to death by not knowing what was happening to him. His thoughts were extremely erratic and she couldn't get anything out of him anymore. She had all but given up on getting through the wards, and was doing little else except wishing.

Therefore, it is easy to imagine how shocked she was when the wall behind her gave out and she suddenly found herself staring up at the sky. Alex spent only a few seconds staring at the dusk-time sky in a state of shock before she came to her senses. She looked towards the door she had just fallen through. There was no indication that a ward had ever been up, which she knew wasn't the case from her ordeal of a good hour (at the very least) of fighting with it. She lifted herself up cautiously. If she knew anything it was that Sirius was nowhere around, and he was the only one supposed to be able to open the wards.

She realized after a thorough look at her surroundings that there was no one else there. Curiosity got the better of her, and she raised a hand to press against the ward. The first thing that caught her attention was the white glow surrounding her hand and traveling up her arm. Upon further inspection, she realized that her entire body was covered in a weak glow. The second thing she realized was that, upon moving her hand towards the doorway, the ward repelled it. The protective barrier was up again.

Her curiosity was soon abated when she felt another wave of intense misery coming from Sirius. It didn't even require thought on her part. She knew she was going to go to Sirius. It only took her a few seconds to pry the location of Harry Potter out of Sirius's tattered mind, and she was gone.

--------------------

Alex didn't even take a breath after arriving before she looked around frantically for any sign of Sirius. To her utter disappointment, he was nowhere to be seen and no clue of his ever having been there (such as an explosion or whole legions of Ministry personnel) was evident. A quick look into the window she had landed in front of was enough to prove that it was the same one he had looked through. Harry Potter was still sitting in an armchair, completely content – even if he wasn't exactly happy-looking – with the picture book he was studying.

Alex struggled for several seconds to wrap her mind around the circumstances. Sirius, who had spent the past months very nearly obsessed with claiming his rightful place as godfather, had been mere yards away from the godson himself – with nothing more than muggles to protect him as far as she could tell! – yet the baby was left alone while the man who had searched for and finally found him had apparently vanished. She tried to reach out to Sirius again, but he was still too far gone to even notice, much less make a coherent reply. Confusion and fear were at the forefront of Alex's mind as she tried to think of possible solutions to the puzzle before her.

She didn't have to worry herself into wrinkles long, however, before the answer came to her in the form of a loud groan. She spun around, half hoping that it would be her lover himself, and was torn between severe disappointment and severe annoyance when she instead caught sight of the terrible, horrific old man that Sirius seemed to like. A scowl graced her face as she marched over to the man, who was sprawled out on the pavement. A not entirely ungentle nudge with her toe didn't affect the old man at all, nor did the rather hard kick in the side.

Alex had no desire to touch the man or to have him touch her, so she had to resort to yelling at him at the risk of drawing the attention of the entire neighborhood. "Wake up!" she demanded as quietly as she felt she could. Moody didn't budge at all. She tried several more demands paired with kicks to the ribs before she finally got another moan out of the man. Alex wasted no time before voicing her question, "Where's Sirius?"

An exclamation of pain was all that answered her question. She dropped to her knees beside the old man and hovered over him so he was sure to see her. "Tell me where Sirius is" she tried again. Moody stared blankly past her without answering. It occurred like lightening striking her that his mind was broken. This discovery served to frighten her even more for Sirius's safety, but it also gave her a plan of action.

With a grimace, Alex braced herself for the flood of alien thoughts that would assault her. Taking a deep breath, she reached out to Moody's mind. The man's mind was, indeed, like wading through memories of his entire lifetime. Alex was overwhelmed for a few seconds, but it didn't last long before another tumult of emotions from Sirius caused her to focus on her purpose again. She concentrated, perhaps, harder than she had ever concentrated before, and finally found what she wanted. It only took a matter of seconds for the seriousness of the new information to sink in. She didn't waste any time leaving Privet Drive and Alastor Moody behind.

--------------------

The scene that greeted Alex was worse than even she had imagined. Even Sirius's nightmares hadn't prepared her for the gruesomeness of Godric's Hollow. A desolate building was all that remained of what she recognized as the once charming cottage of the Potters. She had no desire to go inside the building, as it was sending out negative energy from all directions. She sucked it up, however, and cautiously made her way through the wild, overgrown garden to the front door.

There wasn't even a door on the hinges, and Alex could only assume that it had been blown off during the attack. She braced herself for the worst, and walked inside. It was easily apparent that a duel had taken place in the entranceway. There were pictures, papers, and various knickknacks littering the floor where they had fallen after being blown down by either awry spells or magical energy itself. Furniture was in disarray everywhere she could see. It seemed like nothing was in its rightful place. Her breath caught as she happened to glance up at the wall and saw the only surviving photograph still intact in its place. A photograph of Harry was grinning brightly at her.

Alex tore herself away from the entranceway and moved towards the rest of the house. She froze once again at the sight of the still-marked place where a body had been. She closed her eyes from the horrors of Godric's Hollow as she felt out desperately for Sirius. She still couldn't break through to him. She strengthened her resolve and opened her eyes to search the rest of the house. She decided to start with the living room, since she assumed that Sirius would want to be somewhere where he remembered the Potters as a family together. She made it all of three steps before she realized that she would have to walk over the place where the body had lain to get to her destination.

The negative energy that had been pressing in finally choked her. She looked around wildly for any escape, and spied the kitchen door through the opened doorway into the kitchen. She rushed blindly for the outside. Only once she had made it through the door and across the yard as far away from the house as she could make it did she allow herself to stop and lean against a tree. She took deep breaths to calm herself, knowing that she would have to reenter the house if she wanted to find Sirius.

After a few minutes, she finally had herself under control again. She held her breath as she opened her eyes to prepare to go back into the cottage. As she began to turn around, her mouth fell opened at the sight before her. Sirius was kneeling on the ground no more than 20 yards away from her. She finally remembered to breath, and called out to him. There was no answer. He didn't even appear to have heard her.

Alex moved towards him quickly, only slowing her pace when she got a few feet away since she didn't want to startle him. There was no telling how he would react if she just grabbed him. She walked up beside him slowly and kneeled down close beside him. Even though she hadn't been able to see it from far away (and had therefore wondered what exactly the hell he was doing kneeling on the ground in the middle of nowhere) she could see now that it was a grave. The headstone read:

_James and Lily Potter_

_Husband and wife, father and mother,_

_beloved friends of all who knew them_

_Nov. 5, 1959 – Oct. 31, 1981_

_April 23, 1960 – Oct. 31, 1981_

Alex looked over at Sirius. He hadn't moved an inch nor acknowledged her presence at all. He was staring straight at the headstone of his best friend with seemingly dead eyes. Alex's heart went out to him all over again. Even if she couldn't honestly say that she cared anything about the people buried beneath her, she did care that their deaths caused Sirius pain. She reached out to take his hand gently. He jumped in surprise and attempted to yank his hand away, but Alex had anticipated this and clung to him desperately.

He had turned his head to face her when she first touched him, but only seemed to snap out of his daze when she whispered his name. He gasped in a breath and his eyes came into focus, but didn't lose their dead look. He stared at her face for a few seconds, and she couldn't hold back anymore. Alex moved her free arm to embrace him. He remained rigid.

Alex ignored his not reacting to her, and leaned into his shoulder as she spoke, "Let me help you."

There was no reaction for several long seconds, but all at once Sirius melted into her. Alex was glad for her rejuvenated strength as he returned the embrace and leaned into her. Neither tears nor noise came from him. He simply clung to her. She made no protests to him for several minutes, but his ever increasing grip around her finally forced her to speak up. She racked her brain for some way to shake him out of his stupor and help him.

Her mind finally alighted on the first idea that she thought might have some effect. She pushed him back slightly to look into his eyes as she brought a hand up to his cheek, "Don't let go."

--------------------

Pain was everywhere. Pain was everything...the whole world. So it seemed to Sirius Black. The cottage was ruined. There was no happiness left. All that was left of James and Lily was their names on a headstone. The son they had worked so hard to save was going to live a smothered life of neglect. Their best friend, best man, appointed godfather to their child, and first choice secret keeper had failed at every duty that had been given to him. His thoughts were worse than they had been in Azkaban. By the time night started to close in, Sirius was pretty sure that he'd never left Azkaban. The past months of semi-happiness were just a dream that the dementors had finally succeeded in sucking out of him. Everything was pitch black around him. They might as well have taken his soul, and they probably would take that next so he didn't know why they were leaving him in suspense for so long anyways.

When he'd seen Alex's face before him, felt her touch him, heard her voice...he knew it was too good to be true. He couldn't see anything else. She was a light in the darkness surrounding Sirius. She was a dream. A very good dream, but one that he couldn't allow himself to become attached to. She would disappear at any moment.

He contented himself with holding her. At the thought that she might disappear with each succeeding second, he grasped her tighter and tighter in dread. When he heard her voice requesting that he not let go, the only thing he could think of was that he didn't have any intention of ever letting go if he didn't have to. He didn't have time to attempt an answer before he felt the familiar feeling of apparation sweep him up.

He hit the ground hard on his back and when he opened his eyes again it was nothing but darkness once more. Alex was nowhere to be seen. He sighed and closed his eyes again. There was no use in even attempting to do anything other than lay where he was.

Sirius's thoughts were interrupted by the feel of something tugging on his robes. He opened his eyes and looked down. She was there again...and undoing his robes no less! That fact was completely pushed to the back of his mind when he noticed that she wasn't wearing anything herself. He stared at her unabashedly. If he was going to hallucinate then he was damn glad it was this good, and he wasn't going to waste it.

He let her undress him without complaint or comment. He only briefly wondered how far this dream could go since it was indeed a dream before he decided that it didn't matter since it **_was_** only a dream. The next thing he decided was that he was getting sick of being shoved into bodies of water.

Sirius came up spluttering for air. It took him a full ten seconds to realize that he was actually in water. He opened his eyes and sucked in a breath as he saw the trees surrounding him. **Real** trees! He wasn't hallucinating! As Alex slid up next to him in the water, he turned to her with wide eyes. Dear Merlin, she was really there! He found himself not able to wrap his mind around that fact. He reached out to pull her to him.

She spoke as he marveled at the feel of her against him, "I love you."

Sirius continued to stare at her. She sounded real. She felt real, and so did everything around him. He could think of nothing except for how he thought he had lost this...lost her. He crushed his lips against hers to feel the proof that she was here. The feel of her mouth against his was the trigger that set him off. He could think of nothing other than feeling her against him. He needed more.

He pulled her tighter against himself and moved towards the bank. It was reminiscent of the first time they had done this, except that he spent no time at all being patient with her before he pounced on top of her with a vigor he'd felt only minutes ago that he'd never feel again. He pressed mouth to hers in a furious, demanding kiss. Alex moaned into his mouth as he pressed into her, and eventually he had to abandon her lips. He was overwhelmed with the cliched thought that he was drowning in her. Where pain had controlled him minutes before, now Alex was everywhere. She was everything to him.

He told her as much when they were finally resting beside each other and he had her wrapped in his arms. Everything else could be forgotten easily when he was with her. He could live without James, as much as he felt his heart ache to admit it. He could live without Harry if it meant that the boy would be safe with no risks involved. He could even live with what had happened to them all since he didn't have any choice in the matter anyways. He knew without a shadow of a doubt, however, that he would never be able to live without Alex. His last thought was of how much of a sap he was becoming for this girl.

--------------------

A/N: I hope this is alright...I literally wrote it paragraph by paragraph whenever I could find the time to write. No worries, though (if anyone is worried at all)...after this week I won't have anymore responsibilities that suck up every speck of free time I even think about having...for a few weeks. I plan on writing as many chapters as I possibly can between now and then, and I'll work my way around my other commitments once I get to them. As always, constructive or inspiring reviews are appreciated...always nice to hear it doesn't absolutely suck, after all!

On to other things: I've been having the problem of exactly how to bridge the time between this part of the story and the part where Harry grows up. I just thought I'd let everyone know that I've definitely figured it out and have it all mapped out...so it'll be returning to canon fairly soon. Well, canon from Sirius and Alex's point of view anyway.


	19. How Many Is Enough?

A/N: I hope the first little section – tiny as it may be – sheds some light on Alex's feelings. Just in case anyone either never figured out what her problem was or simply never realized the full meaning of it, I thought I'd let her have a little ramble to clarify.

Chapter Nineteen

Alex fought valiantly to retain unconsciousness as the outside world pressed its way into her senses. Eventually she had to admit defeat and accept the fact that waking up was inevitable. As she stretched languidly, she became very aware of the fact that she wasn't resting in her bed. She opened her eyes only to be met with the sight of grass. Her first reaction was to panic, as the last time she had woken up outdoors she had been bound and gagged awaiting her sentence as bride to Voldemort. The reaction was quickly set aside as the form behind her – previously unnoticed due to her irrational fear – groaned and shifted closer.

She recognized him even without seeing him or hearing his voice, but Alex nevertheless turned her head to confirm that it was Sirius who was attempting to burrow into her back. She hadn't given the situation any thought, but when his hand moved in his sleep to brush against her breasts she was suddenly very aware of their lack of clothing. Memories from the day before assaulted her, and she moaned with the realization that everything had really happened. She absorbed everything down to the most minute detail as she stared at his sleeping form contemplatively.

She hadn't exactly been a willing partner in what had happened. It had all happened so fast. One second Sirius was staring at her in awe, and the next second he had her flat on her back. She'd wanted nothing more than to shove him off of her as memories of how it felt to be held down flooded her mind, but she was no match for him physically and he was not in his right mind enough to realize her wishes on his own. She'd tried to reach him, but had succeeded in nothing more than being struck down by the only thought in his mind: how he was desperate to have her so he could prove to himself that they were both real. She wouldn't have had the heart to deny him his sanity even if she'd been able to do it.

Alex had come to the realization sometime in the middle of their tryst that the thoughts of being forced down against her will had disappeared. The urge to shove him away was no longer there. As his strength had finally given out and his full weight collapsed onto her, she was finally able to _accept_ what she had always known: that he would never hurt her...he didn't pose the same threat as the strangers who had bound her down and caused her such pain. The man who had given her the baby would never hold her down and hurt her in the same way as the people who had taken it from her. She resolved not to let her memories get in the way of either her or Sirius's happiness from then on. Now, staring at him in the light of the morning as he held onto her like a lifeline, she felt horrible at what she'd put him through. She'd let irrational and unfounded (at least around Sirius, of all people) fear come between them.

She lay there watching him sleep for some time. After the ordeal he'd been through the day before, she was thankful that he looked like he was at peace while sleeping. As if to spite her, a grimace suddenly passed over his features and she felt his entire body go tense. Having seen him in the throws of nightmares on many previous occasions, Alex had no desire to let this one go any further. She moved out of his rigid embrace so that he wouldn't have a chance to panic and harm her, and muttered the incantation to force him back into consciousness.

--------------------

_James was sprawled out on the ground._ _At first Sirius's mind refused to wrap around the gravity of the situation. He couldn't force a single thought into his head as he stared at his best friend._ _His mind could only protect itself with denial for so long, however, and as Sirius took a few steps closer, he couldn't deny the truth. When he got closer he was able to see that James's_ _eyes were opened and lifeless._ _A cry of disbelief escaped him. As he sank to his knees beside his best friend, it was soon followed by shrieks of outrage. It all came together in sobs of absolute sorrow just seconds later._

_Sirius was interrupted when the voice he least expected to hear at that moment suddenly came from somewhere behind him, "You did this."_

_He spun around in disbelief to see James standing mere feet away from him, leaning casually against the wall. As the meaning of his words was finally absorbed, Sirius looked at his best friend hopelessly, "What?"_

"_It was you," James said accusingly, and his next words came out as yells of anger, "**You killed me! It was your idea! It's your fault I'm dead!"**_

_Sirius could hardly defend himself against such accusations. They were true. He had killed his best friend. A billion apologies threatened to jump off his tongue, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything at all. He felt as if his heart had been torn from his chest._

"_Me, too," another voice came from above him, "Don't forget that I'm dead, too." A glance revealed that Lily was walking down the stairs. All too soon she was in his face, screaming at him, "**We're dead! Harry is alone! It's all your fault! You killed us!"**_

_Sirius's mind was in turmoil. He had killed them.He did it. It was his fault...his idea had caused this._

_He didn't have a chance to respond as he suddenly found himself looking into the eyes of the person he hated the most, "**Lily and James, Sirius! How could you!**"_

_The explosion that followed made the world go black before his eyes. When he opened them it was only to find himself in his cell. He deserved to be here. He'd killed them, and he should spend the rest of his life rotting in this hell before he actually went to the real thing to finish out eternity in even more pain. He deserved it._

_He was soon aware of Alex in his mind. He could see her clearly being magically restrained in a hospital bed. He could feel her pain as people rushed around her. His heart broke all over again, and he reached out desperately to help her. He felt their minds connect_, _but she pushed away his attempts at aiding her._

_The look in her eyes held accusation as she, too, yelled at him, "**This is your fault! You left me alone and now our baby is gone! You should have been here! You left me here and now look what's happened! I hate you! I hate you! I HATE YOU!"**_

_Sirius's heart shattered into billions of tiny pieces. She hated him. She should hate him, she had every right. He'd left her alone. It was his fault the baby was dead. It was his fault Alex had hurt so much. Hot tears flowed down his cheeks as he wished for nothing more than death._

"Sirius!" the voice of the woman he had heard so passionately saying that she hated him suddenly came to him again. He didn't think he could take anymore of this. "Sirius, wake up!" the voice came again.

Wake up? With those words the outside world suddenly came rushing in. He could sense light shining in his face and the ground beneath him. Had he been asleep? As he opened his eyes he realized that he had. He stared into sea green eyes of the woman he loved. Surely she did hate him? How could she love him? How could she stand to even **_look _**at him?

"I'm sorry," he whispered despondently.

He watched as a look of confusion came across her face, "Why?"

He couldn't take the pain of having heard her say she hated him. The look in her eyes, so full of anger and hate, haunted his mind. Could she really not know? Had he ever even apologized to her for anything at all? He couldn't remember, but it didn't matter since he could never plead for forgiveness enough. "Don't hate me, Alex. I'm so sorry," he choked out, "So sorry...I can't stand it if you hate me!"

"Hate you?" her voice held disbelief, "Sirius, I love you!"

"It's my fault! You can't love me!" he couldn't let himself believe that she cared for him. He didn't deserve it.

He felt himself being pulled up, and the next thing he knew there were arms around him. He felt her breath against his neck as she spoke, "I could never hate you, Sirius. I do love you, I swear it! I don't know what you think is your fault, but I could never hate you!"

The seeds of doubt were instilled in his mind, "But...you said..."

"It was a nightmare!" he was cut off by her vehement decree. He suddenly found himself looking into her eyes again as she pulled away to study him, "Dear Merlin, what did you dream?"

A nightmare? His mind struggled to take this in. Yes, surely it was. She wouldn't be holding him now if she hated him as much as that, would she? He sighed in relief as the full reality of what was real versus what he had dreamed hit him. One look at her proved that she didn't expect an answer to her question, and for that he was glad because he didn't think he would have been able to answer anyway.

"It was so real," he found himself whispering instead.

All at once, Alex pulled him fully back into her embrace. He brought his arms up to wrap around her in return as he just let her hold him. He needed this. He needed to be comforted. They clung to one another for several minutes, before Alex shifted and Sirius was suddenly uncomfortably aware of the fact that neither of them was wearing anything.

His nightmare was quickly shoved to the darkest recesses of his mind as he thought of what he had done to her the night before. He pulled back to look at her critically. "Did I hurt you?" he demanded softly. He would kill himself if he had.

"What?" she was confused yet again.

"Last night," he clarified, "Did I hurt you last night?"

Surprise flashed across her face, "Merlin, no!" Her exclamation was soon followed by another embrace, "Last night was light-years away from painful."

Memories of being weakly pushed away flashed in his mind. He had been too out of it to realize at the time that she was trying to shove him off of her. His eyes widened at what exactly he had done. "You didn't want to," he whispered, "I...I _made_ you do it."

"No!" she gasped, "Sirius..."

"You tried to push me off, " he interrupted her, "and I was so caught up that I ignored it. I made you have sex with me when all you wanted was to shove me away."

"I like to think that it's making love," she eyed him carefully, "and not just sex."

Sirius couldn't meet her gaze. He was too ashamed at what he had done. "You can't make love to the unwilling," he said pitifully.

He was suddenly aware of pain as his head was yanked backwards. He felt Alex's hands tighten their grip in his hair as she forced him to look at her, "You did **not** rape me! If I had really been desperate to push you off, I would have found a way to do it!"

"Desperate or not, you still didn't want it," he couldn't expel the feeling of despair from his chest.

He was so surprised when she pressed her mouth to his that he couldn't react. She kissed him hard, forcing her way into his mouth as he fought to understand what was happening. All too soon, she pulled back, "What you did last night was possibly the best thing you could have done! It made me learn something _very_ important..."

Sirius stared at her expectantly as she trailed off. He realized that she was teasing as she raised an eyebrow at him. Happy for the reassurance that she held no ill will against him, he sighed in mock defeat in an attempt to lighten the mood and his mind, "Yes, Love, I do tend to have that effect on people. Tell me, what did you learn? It might earn a spot on my list of the best epiphanies I've ever inspired."

Her eyebrow arched higher, "Oh? Just how many have there been?"

Sirius cursed himself. What a wonderful time it was to bring up** that** subject. He graced her with an innocent grin, "Enough...Now, you brought up this very important something and I expect you to enlighten me about it!"

"How many is eno..." the look on his face must have been enough to dissuade her from continuing that line of questioning since she trailed off and then began another topic, "I do believe you've finally managed to complete those lessons you were so adamant about giving me."

It only took a few seconds to realize what she meant. He looked at her with startled eyes, "Really?"

Alex turned very serious all of a sudden, all playfulness fading from her. She buried her face in his neck as she nodded. Her response was somewhat muffled by her position, "It made me realize that you won't hurt me. I mean I've always _known_ that, but last night made me _accept_ it."

"How?" he really didn't understand how forcing himself on her had helped her in any way.

"I realized that you, Sirius Black, will never hurt me...even when you are so far out of your mind that you don't pay any attention to what I want," she realized her mistake as soon as the words left her mouth. Her last comment had done nothing but bring back up the too-fresh memories of why he was so crazy and what he had done to her as a result. He paled dramatically, sucking in a breath as he stared at her helplessly. She rushed to reassure him, "I"m so sorry, Sirius. That came out all wrong. I never meant it the way it sounded! Last night only made me love you all the more..."

"Oh, Alex," he cut her off with an utterance of her name, "how can you be so forgiving?"

"I haven't forgiven anything," Sirius shot her a devastated look, but she cut off his plea by pressing a finger to his lips as she continued, "Sirius, there was never anything to forgive."

He said the only thing he could think of, the only thing he had to hold onto anymore, "I love you."

She flashed him a brilliant smile. "And I love you," she gave him a mischievous look, "Really, though, you're getting way too easy to push around. I suggest you save your pleas for forgiveness for when you tell me how many constitutes the phrase 'enough'."

Sirius groaned, "It was before I met you! You can't get mad about that!"

"Oh, on the contrary, Master Black," she addressed him mockingly, "I'm a very jealous lover, and I'll get mad about whatever I damn well please!"

"Then I just won't tell you," he said defiantly. Sirius watched as the look of disbelief came across her face. She obviously wasn't used to him denying her anything. He watched with amusement as she seemed to be working her way through her present dilemma, but his amusement quickly turned to dread as a smile lit up her face.

Alex nuzzled into his neck lovingly, "Then you don't want me to tell you all about that nasty man at the...?" she cut herself off abruptly as he stiffened.

"What man?" his tone held a fierceness he couldn't contain. The familiar fury he felt when anyone dared to impose themselves on Alex's good graces had erupted fully in his chest.

"No, I've said too much already! We aren't sharing, after all," her statement was punctuated with another nuzzle into his neck as though she deemed the subject closed.

The conversation was far from over, however, if he had anything to do with it. "Tell me who he is and what he did and let me deal with it, Love," he recognized that his voice had taken on the authoritative tone he had acquired from a life of always being considered superior to those around him.

"So you can do whatever you please to simple admirers I have, but I can't even know about actual lovers you've had?" Alex's tone was sugarcoated, but Sirius wasn't fooled into thinking that she was actually sweet or sincere.

"They were in my pants before I even knew you! They don't count compared to men who want to get into your knickers now!" he was indignant.

A brutal bite on his neck quickly reminded him exactly whom he was dealing with. He couldn't suppress the groan that rose in his throat at her actions. If he was any judge of people, he would he inclined to think that his reaction pleased her greatly. She abandoned his neck to meet him halfway in a bruising kiss. He couldn't say how long it was before she broke away with a merry laugh, "Have I managed to distract you from your self abuse?" Sirius stared at her in surprise, and she laughed again as she continued, "I'll take that as a yes."

"This whole conversation has been to distract me?" he asked, and at her impish grin he continued angrily, "Did you make up that story about the man?"

"No, it's true. Although, I _was_ tempted to tell you it was made up just so you wouldn't worry about it," she kissed the side of his mouth apologetically.

"You really won't tell me who it was?" he asked furiously. At the negative shake of her head, he caught her apologetic gaze with his own hard one, "Just so you know, Love...You might be a jealous lover, but I am an insanely jealous and violently overprotective one. If any man so much as speaks to you in a way I don't like, I would suggest you deal with it yourself as quickly as possible, because if you don't it will be **me** who handles it."

Another violent kiss, however short-lived, followed his declaration before she pulled back to make one of her own, "And just so **you** know, you _don't_ have the monopoly on this deal. If I see another woman so much as look at you, I'll rip her to shreds."

"Don't you think just for looking is a little harsh, Love? I mean, come on, I'm incredibly attractive!" he declared with a huff.

His statement had the desired effect when Alex laughed, "You're as arrogant and conceited as always."

"I don't think you understand," he said as pompously as he could manage, "This is the part where you agree with me wholeheartedly and gush out compliments and praise about how amazingly handsome, dashingly good-looking, outrageously attractive, and devilishly sexy I am."

"If you want a companion to fawn over you nonstop, then I suggest you invest in a couple of whores to constantly compete for your business," she matched his haughty tone with one of her own.

Sirius laughed aloud at her statement before he pull her in for another kiss, this one much more gentle than the previous ones. He sighed as he pulled back, "Thank you for distracting me, Love, but it can't last forever. We have to go back."

"Luckily you didn't do anything to draw attention to yourself. Right?" she asked at his stricken look.

Sirius's thoughts lay with Alastor Moody. He'd said that the Ministry was probably aware of his appearance at Privet Drive. If that was true and not just a ploy to get him away from Harry as quickly as possible, then it didn't bode well for his attempts at laying low. They couldn't return to their previous hideout because Moody would probably be waiting for him. He seriously doubted that the auror would keep the promise about not turning him in since he had turned on the man and drained his memories.

He turned a smile towards Alex, "Don't worry, Love. We'll need to move, but I was getting sick of that hell hole anyway."

"Move where?" her voice held a hint of underlying weariness.

"I have houses everywhere, the Ministry only knows about a fraction of them. You don't have to worry about ever running out of places to go," he assured her gently.

She nodded in acceptance, "Come, we should go." She extricated herself from his grip and rose quickly. Sirius made no move to rise himself as he leaned back on his forearms to watch her dress. She was just putting on her shirt when she turned around to face him, "What are you waiting for?"

"Nothing at all," he said as he finally rose to his feet, "I was just admiring the view."

A dirty look was all the response he got from Alex, and neither spoke again as they finished dressing. Sirius stepped forward to take Alex's hand since she didn't know where they were going. With one last look at the magical spring that was now the scene of two significant nights in their life together, he teleported away.

--------------------

Alex liked their new hideout as soon as she set eyes on it. It wasn't a magnificent, breathtaking mansion like the last two places Sirius had chosen. Rather, it was a small, quaint house nestled between the woods and a meadow. There was nothing particularly spectacular about it. It was the kind of house one would believe an old couple would buy, and would never peg as the house of a young man. Particularly a young man who happened to be a millionaire...or billionaire...now that she was thinking about it, Alex had no idea exactly how much money he had. Either way, this little one story, two bedroom home was in no way somewhere anyone would think to look for Sirius Black.

They had been there for only a few hours, and she could already tell that he was uneasy. He seemed wary of everything, like he expected hit wizards to descend from the sky at any moment. Alex was torn between being worried and laughing aloud when he nearly jumped out of his skin when she turned on the wizarding wireless and foreign voices flooded the room. She situated herself on his lap as they waited for the news to come on. She had just started pressing kissing along his jaw when the pompous voice of the news anchor flooded the room:

_In an emergency news conference earlier today, Head of Magical Law Enforcement, Bartemius Crouch, revealed some rather disturbing news pertaining to infamous mass murderer Sirius Black. It would seem that Black attacked the home of Harry Potter yesterday. The Boy-Who-Lived, as we all know, is the reason for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's downfall. The motive for Black's attack is credited – quite obviously – to a desire to vanquish_ _the person who defeated his master. No harm came to Harry Potter, but, unfortunately, Black was not recaptured. The unknown person who keeps watch over the also unknown location of Harry Potter reportedly happened to not be present as he or she was attending an annual meeting with Headmaster Albus Dumbledore concerning the condition of the Boy-Who-Lived. This leads investigators to think that Black had been keeping watch over the location for quite some time before he made himself known. This is just another testament_ _of how dangerous Black really is._

_When aurors finally arrived on the scene, they found that Harry Potter and his guardians were peacefully oblivious to the danger they were in. An even bigger surprise came in the form of one Alastor Moody. He was found unconscious a scant distance from Harry Potter's home. He was taken to Saint Mungos and treated for injuries that have not been released to the public. This morning, after the auror had recovered enough to be interviewed, he revealed that he had been in Black's presence these past days. Whether he was with Black of his own free will or with Black as a prisoner has not been released as of yet._ _It has been released, however, that Black has a female companion with him._

_Just before the news conference began, the young girl was reported as being kidnaped by Sirius Black. A name has not been forthcoming, but the official description of the girl is as follows: Seventeen or eighteen year old Caucasian_ _female standing at an estimated height of five feet_ _tall. Very slight of build. White-blonde hair reaching to the small of her back paired with sea green eyes. A motive for her kidnaping has not been ascertained, but Moody is reported to have said that Black is very fond of the girl._ _It is not thought likely that Black will let the girl go, but all of our best wishes for her safe return go with both her and her family. As always, be on your guard for Sirius Black as he is armed and extremely dangerous. Any information on his whereabouts or activities should be directed to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement immediately._

_In other news: one witch visiting Gladrag's was given quite the..._

The voice disappeared as Sirius abruptly turned off the wizarding wireless. All was silent for several long seconds before he finally snapped, "Well, fuck!"

Alex didn't bother to reprimand his language, as she was thinking the exact same thing herself. "I can't believe they think you kidnaped me!"

"I can't believe they would drag you into this at all!" Sirius said furiously, "I don't know whether it's more likely that Moody did it on his own or that the damned headmaster came up with the plan!"

"Do you think they are seriously looking for me?" she asked.

He sighed, "I doubt it, Love. The only reason they reported it was to fuel public outrage, but even if the Ministry really **does** think that I kidnaped you they won't come looking for you anyway. They'll think you are as good as dead, and their main objective will still be finding me since they think there is no hope for you. Actually, they would probably still abandon you even if they thought you were alive if it meant tipping me off to their plans and reducing their chances of recapturing me."

She nodded in acceptance of his explanation, and neither said anything else for several minutes. Something was nagging at Alex's mind, however, and she finally couldn't take it anymore. She took a deep breath as she addressed him, "Sirius?"

"Hmm?" he acknowledged her.

"Why didn't you take Harry?" she braced herself for the worst, but it never came. He simply continued to stare off into space.

Finally, he replied, "He's with his mother's family. He'll be protected by blood magic there. I realized that I could never give him the life his parents wanted him to have anyway."

"Where does Moody fit into the story?" she asked without any hesitance, having gained confidence from his calm demeanor.

There was no outward indication of emotion in Sirius's body as he explained, "He showed up to talk me out of taking Harry. Almost succeeded in dragging me away Merlin only knows where, too, before I decided that I wanted to know where my best friends were buried. He wouldn't tell me, so I broke into his mind. Imagine my horror when I found out that James and Lily were at Godric's Hollow. I should have known, really, since they loved the place so much, that they'd want to be laid to rest there."

"So you went there?" Alex asked as she tightened her grip on him reflexively.

He nodded affirmatively, "I thought I was back in Azkaban. I had convinced myself that everything was a dream and I'd never really escaped in the first place. The next thing I remember is your face." He didn't mention what had happened after she'd finally broken through to him, and for that she was glad. He'd spent enough time beating himself up over something that she wasn't at all sorry had happened.

They simply held each other for as long as they could. Neither moved, and neither spoke. They opened their minds up to one another, and tried their best to offer each other comfort. It was an unwelcome surprise when their interval was interrupted by the appearance of an owl at the window.

Alex was alarmed at first, but Sirius seemed to recognize the bird, and waved it over so he wouldn't have to remove her from his lap to stand up. Alex looked on in disapproval as Sirius read his letter. His scowl became more and more pronounced as time went on until he finally tossed the parchment aside with a noise of disgust.

"What is it?" she asked quietly when it was clear that he wasn't going to speak on his own.

He huffed angrily, "I have to leave for a while."

"What! Why!" at her exclamation, he finally turned furious black eyes on her. Alex, however, was in no way scared of him. She glared back defiantly, "What's going on?"

He stared at her for several seconds, before giving in with a sigh, "An heir's work is never done." He said no more about his reasons for leaving, but brought a hand up to caress her cheek as he spoke in a much softer tone, "I'll be back before dark. Don't worry about me, Love, because this is nothing to worry over. I just don't want to involve you in Black family affairs. You have enough to worry about, and they're sordid and corrupt enough to want to protect you from in any event."

A single kiss later, and Alex was repositioned to sit on the couch as he disappeared after one last lingering look.


	20. Creating an Heir

A/N: Since Sirius is immersing himself in Black family affairs, you'll be getting a crash course in Sirius's Beliefs 101: Pure blood, what does it have to do with anything?. I hope it helps to dispel any feelings that Sirius is a walking contradiction and/or a hypocritical moron. I've been looking for a place to put down what he believes in stone once and for all, and I've finally found it!

--------------------

Optional Side Note if You're Just **Really** Interested In Pureblood Inheritance in this Story and How Sirius Has all the Money as Far as** I'm** Concerned...if You Don't Give a Rat's Ass Just Skip Down to the Next Divider to Read the Actual Chapter

Keep in mind that I'm not necessarily going by the rules as far as how these things worked historically. However, I **am** being accurate according to J.K. Rowling's information about who is and isn't living in Sirius's family and who belongs to who and what relationships they have, etc. I really didn't want to put this in at all as it takes away from the actual story, but since several Black family members will be popping up in this chapter I figured I'd go ahead and explain here – while I'm in the mood to write it out – why Sirius has all the money if they're still living. Sorry if it's confusing.

First off, I realize that Sirius isn't actually the oldest living Black male at this point in the story (although he was by the time he met Harry) so finish reading before you scoff at my inferior knowledge. In my story the purebloods are completely archaic and so they only have male heirs. Now we all know the oldest son is the heir, but I'm adding that generally the younger sons are just given the means to make their own money if they want to take this path (a job in the family business, perhaps) and are given a set sum of money to start out, with the amount being completely up to the heir aside from any wishes his father had, though those aren't legally binding. It would be entirely up to the heir, of course, but this settlement might also include a house, or at least a temporary home until the younger brother could buy one on his own to leave to his own son. Sticking with the archaic theme, women don't inherit in strictly "aristocratic" families such as the Blacks and Malfoys. Of course, there are many more families than not that aren't as rigid as the two mentioned above. Take the Weasleys, for example, who I would think would leave equally to **all** of their boys, not just Bill, and to Ginny, too.

I've taken it a bit further by saying that when the heir gets married he automatically gets his inheritance just as if his father had actually died. I think this is understandable because of the expanded lifetime expectancy of wizards: you don't want to have a two-hundred-year-old man in charge of your family fortune because then his son would be old by the time he inherited, and his grandchild would be starting to push it in years, and so on. It would just be a mess. In the event of the heir's marriage, the father is given a set sum of money just like the younger brothers with a house and everything (unless his heir just hated him, of course). Since Sirius's father **did** actually die in 1979, that last part doesn't pertain to Sirius himself, but it does pertain to his paternal grandfather (who is still living at this point in the story) because the man got a settlement when Sirius's parents got married...so he still has money and isn't in a poorhouse somewhere. If a man dies whose heir has _already _married, the remaining settlement is given to his wife if she is living and back to his heir if she is dead. If a man dies whose heir is _not_ married then it is that heir's job to provide for his mother if she is living (as you will see with Sirius and his mother).

Luckily for our Sirius, the **first** recorded Sirius Black died somewhere around the age of eight, leaving his younger brother and our Sirius's great-great-grandfather, Phineas Nigellus, to inherit the money. Sirius's paternal great-grandfather and his maternal great-grandfather were brothers(oldest and youngest, respectively), so his great-grandfather on his mother's side would have been given a settlement out of the original Black family fortune upon either his brother's marriage or his father's death (whichever came first). Sirius's two great-grandfathers had one younger brother (and one sister, though that doesn't matter), so there are whole other lines of the Black family who got settlements and have no claim to the fortune unless both Sirius and Regulus die.

The point is that going by my idea of the youngest sons basically being given an allowance while the eldest son is always the only true heir, Sirius would have found himself with the _entire_ Black family fortune and all that goes along with it at the age of either nineteen or twenty even though there are members of his family still living who are older than he is. This is assuming that his father didn't actually disown him and that was more to do with his mother throwing a tantrum and scorching his name off the tapestry than with actually being taken out of the will and denounced. Interestingly enough, I **am** assuming that and stated it in Chapter Five during his chat with Regulus. On that note, anyone who has actually studied the subject knows that Regulus also died in 1979, but that's just one of those things I chose to ignore for the sake of plot in this story.

If you want to study up on the Black family tree, to get started I recommend:

http//hp-lexicon. org/wizards /blackfamilytree. html

--------------------

Chapter Twenty

The house had lost none of it's dark **un**appealing attributes. The shadows still dominated every corner and the paintings were still shouting barely veiled threats at him. The atmosphere was decidedly oppressive and completely depressing. Sirius had just stepped through the door when he remembered why exactly he hadn't come back for the past four years. Well, the general atmosphere **and** the maniacal bitch who lived in it were both good reasons for him to stay away.

It seemed, however, that the crazy old hag couldn't leave well enough alone. It wasn't enough that he'd left her with enough money that she'd never have to worry about such things...more money than most families could hope to have even if they piled every living member's savings into one vault until the day they died. Merlin forbid that please the bitch. Oh, no, she had to have every knut in his possession before she would be happy. If her Regulus couldn't have it then no one could. If he had done what he _had wanted_ to do in the first place, he would have left her with nothing. He wasn't legally obligated to give her a single galleon, after all. He wasn't even entitled to let her live in one of _his_ residences. He had been a good boy, however, and left enough to provide for her until she died and then some just so he'd never have to see her again. He was furious that his plan had failed.

With a scowl firmly plastered on his face, he marched up the stairs purposefully. Apparating or teleporting would have been much easier than dealing with the jeers aimed at him from almost every portrait he passed. Dealing with the portraits, however, was much preferable to dealing with the bitch, and Sirius was dead set on putting that form of Hell off as long as he possibly could. If that meant wasting time and energy to actually walk to her study, then so be it.

No matter how much he slowed his pace, the inevitable finally met him in the form of a heavy wooden door adorned with a silver knocker in the form of the Black family crest. He stalled more time by stopping to look at his crest. He hadn't looked at it since he'd had to leave his signet ring at the first house during the Ministry raid. His eyes swept over the familiar image as the description in the formal language of heraldry went through his mind: sable, a chevron between two mullets in chief and a sword in base, argent. He laughed at himself for a second as he realized just how very aristocratic he was being. He'd thought he'd gotten it out of his system, but still remembering his lessons in heraldry was a sure sign that he would never escape his snooty family completely. The crest was a black shield. It had a silver inverted "V" in the center, with a sword pointed upwards beneath it, it's tip almost reaching the angle of the upside down "V". Two silver greyhounds stood on their hind legs on either side of the shield. He eyed the impressive dogs in the crest as disdain for his family welled up in his chest. The animals were majestic...they represented gallantry and loyalty. No matter how much his family paraded and postured, they represented nothing like their family crest suggested.

As he eyed the family motto at the bottom of the crest, a true scowl graced his face. Toujours pur...well, at least "always pure" was something that his family lived by as if it were the holy word. He hated that they interpreted their motto to mean that they were royalty compared to everyone else. They were no better than any other person just because of what family they were born into. However, he _did_ agree wholeheartedly that purebloods marrying purebloods was the most _logical_ course and he wasn't the least bit ashamed to declare it. No matter what people said, the occurrence of magical children was seriously declining. There were very few families left that had purely magical blood, and marrying within those families to keep the magical blood flowing made perfect sense. No matter how pure a wizard or witch's blood might be, if they married a half blood, a muggle born, or a muggle they increased their chances of not having magical children. It was a simple matter of probability: the more non-magical blood available to pass on, the more likely a child will receive it.

What Sirius thought was wrong was that the pureblooded families (except the Weasleys, of course) absolutely forbid their children to marry "below their status", which was just ridiculous. First of all, they weren't any better than anyone else just because of some ancestors they didn't even know. The wizarding race probably would have died out already if they had never let muggle borns in. Secondly, Sirius knew a great many muggle borns who were decidedly more powerful than most purebloods, so blood had nothing to do with if you were powerful. It only had to do with if you were magical at all, not how much power you had if you _were_ magical. Squibs were born into pureblood families, too, it wasn't just limited to mixed blood families. Lastly, it was another probability problem that the chances of pureblooded children marrying each other were pretty good since they mostly associated with only each during early childhood and also with almost only each other in what was pretty much so their very own house at school. If one or two of them decided to marry someone who wasn't a pureblood then it should be perfectly fine as long as the entire family bloodline didn't die out, and even if it **did** die out it still shouldn't ultimately decide a person's fate. You can't help who you love, after all.

Sirius had spent a great deal of time thinking on the subject, and had it all worked out in his mind. He didn't think badly of any pureblood simply because of their beliefs since he shared a great many of them (he _was_ a pureblood himself, after all). It seemed that the only belief he didn't share with the majority of the pureblooded community was the conviction that anyone who didn't have pure blood shouldn't be allowed to practice magic. It seemed to him that even muggles had some magic in them. They had to since they sometimes produced magically inclined children. It was just the manifestation of that magic into a usable form that made the difference between wizards and muggles in his opinion. The idea that wizards were a separate race was ridiculous to him. He was friends with way more people with "impure" blood than he was with purebloods, and he knew firsthand that you couldn't tell the difference between the two groups unless you counted the way most purebloods had an air of superiority around them that others lacked. They were considered aristocracy by the wizarding world after all, and they were raised like it.

Sirius wouldn't have even held a grudge against other purebloods for that belief in and of itself if they hadn't started trying to exterminate people with impure blood. And really, even though he hated them for starting a war, they were fighting for something they believed in and he held no grudge against them for that either. The only problem he had was with attacking people – both impure and pure – who had nothing to do with the actual war and who didn't get in the way. Other than that the only real reason he had to look down his nose at the death eaters was the fact that they followed Voldemort. That was just one big contradiction if he'd ever seen one: purebloods killing in the name of purity and all the while groveling in the dirt before a half blood. And the **least** they could do was admit that they were his followers! He might have been extremely fucked up himself, but no one who knew the _truth_ could ever say that he'd cowered away in fear until he knew he was going to win. Hell, up until the whole Boy-Who-Lived thing he'd been pretty sure the light side would lose.

Being back in this house only reminded him of how much he resented his mother. He'd never tried to talk her out of her beliefs. He'd never even asked to have his "impure, Gryffindor slime" friends over. It wasn't his fault he was even in Gryffindor. He hadn't paid off the bloody hat so it'd put him there! He'd gotten along with his cousins, even going so far as to form friendships with all of them except for Bellatrix, who was nothing short of a lunatic in the first place. He'd aced all of his classes and made the quidditch team. When at home he'd hardly even come out of his room unless someone had told him he had to. He'd hardly bothered anyone at all, even going so far as to put off playing too many pranks on anyone except his younger brother, who was too vulnerable and naive to ignore. To this day he still didn't understand why his mother hated him. He'd spent most of his life trying to please her, and now he truly did hate her for what she'd put him through.

With that thought, he sighed heavily as he realized that the sooner he faced her, the sooner he could leave. He straightened his already straight posture even more in an attempt to brace himself for impact, and opened the heavy door without knocking. He felt like groaning out loud at the sight that met him. The bitch was sitting at her usual place at her desk, but what surprised him was who else was in the room. He recognized his mother's father immediately, but another man in a chair facing away from him wasn't identifiable. His grandfather noticed him as soon as he opened the door since his chair was facing it. The shocked look on his face was enough to draw his mother's attention. The sudden silence of his companions drew the attention of the remaining man, and he spun around as he followed the others' gazes. Sirius's already prominent scowl deepened even further as he recognized his paternal grandfather. If his two grandfathers were visiting his mother together then they were sure to be planning something.

Of the four people in the room, Sirius was the first to recover. He turned hard eyes on the bitch, but refrained from actually greeting her as such. "Hello, Mother," his voice was as cold as his eyes.

Silence prevailed in the room for several seconds longer, before his words registered in the woman's mind and her face twisted into a furious grimace. "You are no son of mine!" she screeched angrily.

"Something I'm very glad to hear, _Walburga_," he enunciated her given name in a clear refusal to stand down.

"You aren't welcome here!" her voice had lost none of its banshee-like qualities.

Sirius almost laughed aloud, "It's **my** house! I don't require** your** blessing to be here!"

The glaring contest between mother and son continued for long seconds before her father found his voice, "We should turn you in!"

"You won't," Sirius turned his glare on the old man, "After all, Pollux, that would make the death eaters think you were against their cause. Sending Voldemort's right-hand man back to prison and all." Sirius used his supposed position sarcastically.

That shut the old man up. The other man in the room, however, only flinched at the Dark Lord's name for a second before he recovered enough to speak, "You are no death eater! A follower of the Dark Lord would show more respect than to say his name aloud!"

"Respect by not saying his name? Or fear?" Sirius challenged.

"Fear is respect!" Pollux spoke up again.

Sirius _did_ laugh aloud at that, "No, fear is fear. If anyone respected Voldemort they would have declared to the world that they were his followers. They joined him out of respect for his cause, not out of respect for him. They never left him because they were afraid of what he would do to them if they did, but that doesn't mean they respected him."

"Enough!" the other man shouted, "Why have you come!"

"Certainly not to make nice, Arcturus," Sirius addressed his father's father by name since he was apparently no longer considered family by anyone, "I've come to remind this **bitch** of her place in the world." He inclined his head towards his fuming mother.

She sputtered indignantly at the name he'd called her. "How dare you address me like that!" she demanded furiously.

"Very easily and with great pleasure," he informed her tonelessly.

Of course, her father didn't take kindly to the treatment of his daughter, even by his own grandson. Pollux took a step towards him, "You are a disgrace to the family! A blood-traitor and a fugitive! We don't want you here!"

"Get out!" his mother reiterated her father's words as she drew her wand menacingly.

Sirius silently summoned the wand and snapped it in two. He knew it would infuriate her since she was attached to her wand, and she gasped in outrage at what he had done, but never got a chance to do or say anything as he cut her off. "Since I'm not your son then I obviously don't have any responsibility to take care of you!" he declared hotly. He received three blank stares, and continued with a malicious grin, "Yes, I think I'll just take my money back since I should really only use it to support my family."

"You can't do that!" the woman exploded.

"I _can_ and I _will_ if you **ever** try to enter any of my vaults again," he informed her coldly, "I gave you more money than anyone in their right mind would have given their mother, especially one as awful as you. I did it so I would never have to see you again **not** out of the kindness of my heart. Since you've effectively ruined my plan I see no reason to leave you with anything."

"Now you see here, boy," Arcturus stepped in, "She's your mother and it's your responsibility to provide for her!"

"If I'm no son of hers then surely she's no mother of mine," Sirius pointed out tonelessly, using her words against her.

The bitch, he noticed, had apparently decided it was best not to say anything to him if she wanted to keep her money. If you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all, after all. Pollux had also gone silent, presumably because he wished for his daughter to keep her money, also. If she was left with nothing it would be up to him, as her father, to provide for her. Arcturus, however, had no such qualms to hold him back, "It's your own fault you were turned out on your ass like a common beggar! You're nothing but a Gryffindor blood-traitor!"

"I wasn't turned out, actually," Sirius turned to face him fully, "or is that what she's been telling you?" His mother looked furious, but still held her tongue. Sirius continued with a laugh, "I left on my own. I have no _wish_ to be a part of this family."

At the declaration, Walburga could no longer hold back, "Regulus should have been his father's heir! You cheated him out of money and position you don't even want! I don't know what that idiot Orion was thinking! I told him for years that you'd turned out bad!"

"Oh, I want the money. I **love** the money! It's the shame of having the last name Black that bothers me. The entire wizarding world scoffs and looks down at the entire mess of bigots that come from this house!" Sirius glared defiantly at the other people in the room.

Arcturus stared at him in shock, "How could such a blasphemous child have come from my son! It's your part of the line that's weak!" he pointed at Pollux accusingly, "That bastard son of yours went and left the boy money," he gestured wildly at Sirius, "Your daughter convinced my son to marry her and just look how my grandson turned out! Even your granddaughter went off and married that Tonks muggle!"

Pollux gaped at the other man as his face turned a violent shade of red. Finally, he exploded, "You came to me with the idea to have our children get married! They are second cousins so I never would have considered the match if you hadn't come to me hoping for an alliance between the two sides of the family! You could have easily gone to any of your other cousins with the proposal, but **you** chose **my** daughter!"

"That was before I knew any better!" Arcturus yelled back.

Sirius watched these proceedings with amusement. He was starting to wonder if it wouldn't be great fun to attend the next family reunion. If this was the reaction he caused he'd have to be sure to bring Alex along to witness the fun next time. Merlin knows she needed a good laugh. As his grandfathers continued to shout insults at each other, his mother happened to notice him laughing. Her stricken look from the argument quickly turned to a furious one.

"Where did we go wrong with you!" she hissed at him, "You should have done what you were told! You always were too curious and too defiant! I should have ignored Orion and taken you in hand long ago and maybe you wouldn't have turned out bad! Maybe I should have transferred you to Durmstrang as soon as I learned you were sorted into Gryffindor, and I should have pushed ahead your marriage to a respectable girl as soon as I learned that you shared your bed with mudbloods!"

"Oh, but I was already a lost cause by then," Sirius didn't even blink at her hateful tone, he was far too used to it. "As for my marriage to a respectable girl...do you mean to tell me that you planned to arrange a marriage for me? Who with?" he asked curiously.

"The Rosier girl, not that it matters anymore. She's married to a Parkinson now," Walburga continued to glare daggers at him.

Sirius remembered that his mother's sister-in-law was a Rosier. He also remembered the girl in question. She had been a pretty little thing with her sights constantly set on Lucius Malfoy even when they were first years and he was in seventh. He returned his mother's glare, "Well that shows how much you wanted to reform me. You were going to give me a wife who would have become a mistress to Lucius Malfoy as soon as she gave me a son, and probably even before! From what I hear," he thought back to past conversations with Narcissa, "all she's had is a daughter and she's Malfoy's mistress right now regardless. They aren't exactly discreet about it, either, if his wife knows."

His two grandfathers had long since stopped to listen to mother and son battle it out, and Pollux gasped at the great injustice of what Sirius had just revealed to him, "You mean to tell me that my granddaughter is being cheated on?" he asked, referring to Narcissa, who was his second son's third daughter.

Sirius thought for a moment, and suddenly another wonderful insult came to him. He appeared thoughtful for a moment, then turned back to look at his grandfather, "Narcissa's mother is a Rosier isn't she? Maybe cheating runs in the family! Narcissa looks nothing like a Black, after all, and her mother was just delighted with her blonde hair! Who knows, maybe she even cheated with a Malfoy herself! She was certainly adamant enough about wanting Narcissa to marry one, so I guess it must just be an obsession with her whole family." Pollux's eyes widened dramatically at the new possibilities. Sirius knew the thought of his son being cheated in that way was horrific to him. As the other two people in the room stared at him with equal horror, he decided to throw in the last punch, "Yes, the more I think on it the more I'm sure that all the women that come from that family are just obsessed with Malfoys. I mean, Bellatrix herself is Malfoy's mistress, too!"

Gasps of outrage came from everyone in the room. Arcturus glared at Pollux hatefully, apparently even further convinced in his theory that his entire line of the family was defective. Pollux himself looked as if he was trying desperately to find some reason to believe Sirius's words untrue, and looked sick that upon thinking back all he found was reasons to believe the man in front of him. Walburga looked as if Sirius had just told her that he had a bastard son by a mudblood who was going to try to claim the Black family fortune. Well, maybe she didn't look **that** stricken, but the more Sirius thought about that particular look on her face the more he thought it would be funny. He would have told her that lie just to see her reaction if it weren't for the fact that he thought it would dishonor Alex to do it.

It was Walburga who finally found her voice, "It isn't proper to talk about such things!" Sirius noticed that she said nothing to try to prove him wrong. Apparently she, too, could only think of evidence in favor of what he had said about both Druella Rosier Black and her daughter, Bellatrix. It was true that the color of Narcissa's hair was common only among Malfoys, and Bellatrix _was_ entirely too nice to her sister's husband and vice versa.

Sirius found that he was getting no more amusement out of the situation. He had said what he had come to say, gotten in a few arguments for the hell of it, and now he was ready to get back to Alex and work on that whole bastard to claim the family fortune thing. He realized suddenly that he had no idea what kind of blood she had, but found that he couldn't worry about having non-magical children with her anyway. Surely two people so completely magical as themselves couldn't make a squib together? It wouldn't stop him from being with her in any way, but Sirius decided to ask her about her lineage all the same just so nothing would come as a surprise to him. He would love any kids they had no matter what, he would just prefer to know the chances before he was shocked with something he didn't know to expect.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when he realized that there were three glares being aimed at him. He grinned wryly, "Well, I do believe I've overstayed my welcome in my own house," he turned another hard glare on his mother, "I'll let you stay here and I won't take your money, but if I hear anything out of you ever again you will find yourself out on the street like a peasant." He'd never thought of himself as an aristocrat really, and therefore didn't really think of anyone as a peasant. He just knew that the term would frighten his mother into submission. He swept down in a mocking bow before disappearing from the room.

-------------------

Alex had grown incredibly bored almost as soon as Sirius left. She usually spent her time alone – not that there was much of it – exploring the house she was in and examining the various objects sitting around. This little cottage, however, was far too small for there to be anything to explore. She assumed that because of it's size it wasn't actually a Black family house since there were no interesting magical objects anywhere in sight. She had long since grown tired of watching the muggle television since at that time of day there was nothing on but something the muggles called soap operas. She had watched ten minutes of one, and, aside from how pointless she thought the whole thing was, she was so confused that she couldn't follow what very little plot it actually had.

She had finally resigned herself to doing the crossword in the _Daily Prophet_. She had been trained extensively in all types of magic and had also been trained very well in dueling, but her isolation from the outside world had not helped her in pop culture or current events. She had been sitting at the kitchen table working on the puzzle for a good hour with no great amount of success when she heard footsteps behind her. She tensed and spun around ready to attack, only to see Sirius leaning against the doorjamb staring at her. She abandoned the crossword without another thought to rush into his arms.

He was upon her by the time she even stood up from her chair. She eagerly met his mouth in a hungry kiss. It amazed Alex that she could be so eager for him after barely over an hour apart. They kissed passionately until the pain in her lungs finally forced her to pull away for air. Sirius appeared to be having no such problems, as he attacked her neck without the slightest pause. She realized with amusement that she wasn't even touching the floor. He had lifted her off the ground to pull her fully against him.

Since he seemed to have such a firm grip on her, she felt safe enough to move both hands from around his neck to run through his hair – she absolutely **loved** his hair. She grew impatient as he bit down on her neck brutally, and used her anchor in his hair to rip his mouth away from her. She turned her head to replace her mouth over his and retaliated by biting down hard on his lip. He pulled back in surprise as she tasted blood. She opened her eyes to meet his fairly shocked gaze with her own defiant one.

His already bruising lips suddenly curved into a grin, "Well aren't you a testy one?"

"You know I am," she smiled back at him mischievously.

He attacked her mouth again and she was aware of him walking. She only had a few seconds to wonder where he thought he was going to go before the edge of something hard met the backs of her legs. She suddenly felt like she was falling even though she stayed securely wrapped in his arms, but it was over a few seconds later and she was lying flat on her back on what she recognized as the kitchen table. He continued to kiss her for a few seconds before his hand snaked down to the hem of her shirt.

She broke off the kiss, "What are you doing?"

"Making an heir," he said without hesitance. Alex blinked in surprise at his answer, but didn't have time to dwell on it before she became aware of him trying to undress her. He pulled back as he attempted to take her shirt off of her. She lifted herself up instinctively to help him along, and soon the offending garment was tossed over his shoulder. She decided that she liked his plan very much, and reached for his shirt. He lifted his arms obligingly and his shirt soon joined her own on the kitchen floor.

Sirius attached himself to her neck as they reached for each other's pants at the same time. She fumbled with his belt buckle as his expert hands quickly undid hers completely, but couldn't force the denim off of her in her current position. She had just managed to start on his zipper when he mumbled, "Oh, screw this." The next second she was aware of the feel of the wooden table against her bare skin and the feel of his bare skin against her own. She gasped involuntarily in surprise, and he grinned, "Nifty spell, isn't it?"

Alex didn't answer him. Instead she threaded her fingers through his hair again and brought his head down to hers for a kiss. She felt his hands grip her knees as he moved closer, and she moved her legs automatically to let him. His hands traveled up her sides, stopping to explore various spots on her body before reaching their destination on the table to support his weight. She accidentally bit down on his lip again as he pressed into her without further preamble. He jerked his mouth away as they both groaned.

Alex was immensely glad that the table was smooth and polished, since she surely would have gotten splinters all in her back if it wasn't. She opened her mouth in a scream as the familiar feeling of pleasure washed through her. Sirius never let up his movements, but the whole time was varying between whispering declarations of love and statements of perversion and profanity into her ear as he nuzzled into her neck. She ran her hands gently up his back to soothe the scratches she had left, finally reaching his head and pulling him away from her neck so she could soothe the bite marks on his lips with gentle kisses.

She was aware that the compression in her chest that usually accompanied being pinned down in any way had yet to show up. She used her arms around his back to pull him down further. He resisted at first, finally managing to ask coherently, "What are you doing?"

Alex answered him shortly, "Seeing how well your lessons worked."

Sirius met her gaze briefly before relenting and moving his arms up further so he could rest his weight more fully onto her. She sighed in contentment as no feelings of utter fear encompassed her. A few minutes later he collapsed still even further onto her. She ran her hands over his sweaty skin as his tongue tasted the salt on her neck. After a while, their panting subsided into more even breathing and he found the strength to lift himself off of her.

Without anything to distract them, the squeak of the table was very audible to their ears. It shifted again and made another protesting sound as she sat up. Alex laughed, "I think we broke it."

He grinned and leaned forward to kiss her again before replying, "It isn't broken. It's just...damaged."

"Wobbly you mean," she supplied the word with another laugh. He nodded his assent at the definition of what exactly they had done to the kitchen table before resuming his exploration of her mouth. She kissed him back just as eagerly as she had when he had first come home, albeit quite a bit more gently. When he finally pulled back, she eyed him curiously, "Is this what I can expect of my earlier oath to let you jump me whenever and wherever you want?"

He smiled flittered across his face at the remembrance of her quick acceptance to the terms of their agreement. He stepped back to help her back onto her feet. "I think I'm going to enjoy this kid thing even more than I thought. Can you imagine the look on my mother's face when another name shows up under mine on her magical tapestry?" he said in way of explanation. At her puzzled look, he continued, "Oh, I forgot you've never met my mother or seen the tapestry. Well, she's going to be absolutely furious when she finds out I've taken it upon myself to create an heir to the family fortune with a woman she didn't choose herself. There's this magical tapestry hanging in the main study at the house she lives in that records the family tree, so she'll know almost immediately."

"You really hate her, don't you?" Alex asked curiously.

A dark look passed over his features, "Yes."

She didn't press for more information. She'd heard stories and seen enough family pictures that she didn't really need him to explain it to her anyway. She looked up at him again as another thought crossed her mind, "Will you be disappointed if we have a girl?"

"No," he answered without hesitance, "Girls are better anyway. Boys are nothing but trouble. I mean just look at me! Can you even imagine the havoc and destruction any son of mine would bring to the world? The hearts he would break? The fathers and older brothers I would have to duel to keep him from fully understanding the word eunuch?"

She laughed, "So does this mean you'll be disappointed if it _is_ a boy?"

"No," he answered without hesitance once again, "At least a boy wouldn't drive me to gray hairs even though I don't age. She'd be just as much trouble as both of us, and I would spoil her so much that no one else could stand her except for me...and possibly you. She'd have me wrapped completely around her cute little fingers, and I would love every second of it. Plus, just think about all the good-for-nothing, perverted, filthy little boys I would have to kill for looking at her wrong."

"You've really thought about this, haven't you?" a feeling of happiness welled up in her chest at the thought.

"I have," he confirmed with a sheepish grin. She smiled and flew into his arms to give him another searing kiss.

-------------------

Sometime later, Sirius was walking around the table collecting their shirts as Alex walked over to the corner to retrieve the rest of their clothes, which had been neatly folded by the spell. As she separated their clothes while walking back to the table, a box fell out of the pile and landed at her feet. They both looked down at the sound of the impact. Sirius's eyes widened at the sight before him.

Alex had stooped to pick up the small box from the floor. She eyed it with surprise, and her gaze flew up to meet his. After a few seconds, during which he couldn't force himself to speak, she continued her walk towards him. She handed him his clothes silently, then handed him the box with a questioning and somewhat hopeful stare. He sighed, knowing that he couldn't keep it from her now that she'd seen it.

"Alex, love," he took a deep breath, "I'd wanted to do this right with the romantic setting and preferably while clothed." She stared at him with wide eyes, but didn't speak. He opened the box to reveal its contents to her, and continued, "You know I can't marry you yet since I'm a wanted convict and all, but I want you to take this so you'll know that I will if I ever can."

She stared at him, then stared down at the ring, then looked up at him again. She opened her mouth and took a shuddering breath, before collapsing right into his arms. He stared down at the top of her head in shock. She finally pulled back with a tearful grin. "Dear Merlin I love you!" she exclaimed, "Of course I'll wear your ring, and of course I'll force you to keep your promise and marry me as soon as you can!"

He grinned in relief, "There'll be no forcing, Love. I'll drag you to the nearest available priest or member of the Wizengamot I can find."

They kissed long and hard, before he finally pulled back to put the ring on her left hand. She stared down at it with a grin, bringing it closer to her face to examine. He watched in amusement as another grin lit up her face. The ring was magnificent if he did say so himself...and he did. It was platinum, of course, nothing less would do for her. There was a rather large diamond in the middle. It was surrounded by two smaller, but still quite large, diamonds on either side. The band was studded with smaller diamonds all the way around her finger, almost completely obscuring the view of the metal. It was very extravagant, but not gaudy. The three large diamonds would draw attention to anyone who looked at her left hand, of course, but unless a person was to study the ring up close they would never realize exactly how intricate it was. He'd gone through hell to find it since it had to be perfect, and had shelled out a pretty penny or two dozen for it, but the look on her face when she finally saw it was way more than worth it.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you loved that ring more than you loved me," he declared after she had gone several minutes without looking back up at him.

"Never," she stated seriously, "I love the man who gave it to me more than the ring itself. I just think it's prettier to look at than you, that's all."

His mouth dropped open in protest. "Take that back!" he demanded.

"Oh, but alas, it is true!" she insisted gravely in a very pompous tone.

He snorted, "I'll have you know that I am extremely attractive! I'll just have to go find some other girl who can't stop looking at me. Maybe I should have married the girl my mother picked out for me! I'm sure she would have thought herself very lucky to end up with me instead of Parkinson!"

Her teasing demeanor vanished all at once and she gripped his arms painfully, "Don't talk about other girls to me like that, Sirius. I know you have a past, but knowing that you were engaged to someone else isn't something I care to hear about."

"I wasn't engaged to anyone, Love," he assured her, "I only just found out earlier today, anyway. My mother wanted me to marry some girl I hardly even know, but it never went through. She's married with a kid and is already another husband's mistress now."

"You're mother would arrange a marriage you didn't want?" she asked angrily.

He sighed at the change in the mood he had caused, "Most pureblood marriages are arranged, Love. The parents usually decide early on and force the kids together so much that, along with the brainwashing, they fancy themselves in love with each other. It usually only falls apart a while after they get married. That's what happened to Narcissa. Of course, some families aren't even secretive about it and inform their children that it's their duty to make a good marriage. Malfoy came from one of those families, so he was never in love with Narcissa. He just played the part until she married him, then he abruptly stopped acting and left her with a broken heart trapped inside a loveless marriage to an awful man." He spoke with bitterness about his beloved cousin's situation.

"That's awful," Alex declared with a shake of her head, "Why would they do that?"

Sirius had to remind himself that she knew almost nothing about politics, alliances, or customs since she had been completely isolated up until not even a year ago. He sighed, "They have to keep the bloodlines pure, Love. There aren't that many pureblooded families to choose from anymore, especially ones that wouldn't be considered blatant incest to marry into. Most parents either want to form an alliance through their children or just don't trust their kids to make good choices on their own."

"Oh," she turned to face him fully, "Do you care about that?"

"I know it's the only way to almost guarantee that you have magical children, but I don't think it should be required of anyone to marry for blood unless they want to, and enough of them want to that I'd say purebloods are safe for now anyway," he answered, "I wouldn't force any kid of ours even if I could, Love. Don't worry."

"What about me?" she asked skeptically.

He raised an eyebrow, "What about you?"

"I don't even know what kind of blood I have," she sighed, "I never thought to ask and no one ever told me."

"It doesn't matter, Love," Sirius cursed himself silently for bringing it up, "but if you want to know then you can tell me the name if you know it. I'll tell you if I recognize it. It's a shot, at least."

She appeared to be deep in thought for several seconds. "I haven't heard it in so long..." she said contemplatively. After several more seconds a light suddenly came on in her eyes, "Yaxley."

Sirius grinned, "Well, I'd say that you're probably a pureblood. They were in my family's group of friends. In fact, we're probably distantly related by marriage. My great great aunt was a Yaxley. The name has probably died out, though, unless there's a line somewhere that I don't know about like maybe a foreign line or something. Our grandparents' generation only had one son to carry on the name, and he only had daughters who are all married now and have their husbands' names. He was a death eater; dead by now, I'm sure."

"Does that please you?" she asked as she settled on his lap.

"Yes," he answered as he kissed her briefly, "It wouldn't have changed anything between us even if you were a first generation muggle born witch, but I'm glad that you _are_ a pureblood if just for the sake of being almost guaranteed magical kids."

"I think maybe I've changed my mind since I told you that I'd never seen a family that made me think one was worth having," she informed him gently.

"Yeah?" he asked as he pulled back to glance at her.

She dropped his gaze as she snuggled back into his chest, "Yes. I love you and you love me and we're happy together. Any kids we have will be spoiled little brats just like you said, and we'll both love them to death. I think that'll make for a family I'll be glad to have."

"Me, too, Love," he said as he wrapped his arms around her, "Me, too."

------------------

A/N: I'll be going away for a medium-length vacation next week, and I hope to have the next chapter or two up by then. Give me a review if you liked this one. They usually make me get chapters out faster since it gives me a really good writing mood every time I read one.


	21. Mood Swings and Stolen Rings

A/N: This chapter wasn't **quite** finished before I went on my vacation, so I thought I'd just take my computer and find some time to finish and post it. On my third day away I had some free time...and imagine my surprise when I found that (silly me!) I'd forgotten my power cord. The battery wasn't even fully charged, so I only had about an hour to work. I just got back home and put the finishing touches on the chapter, and now here it is. I'm leaving again for another vacation on the 23rd of this month...so let's hope I actually remember the power cord this time. It was one of those completelystupid moments I'm prone to having...

Chapter Twenty-One

Aside from the occasional shopping spree in the muggle world, the weeks after Sirius told Alex he had _business_ were filled with mood swings...and not from her. She still hadn't figured out what exactly he had done when he left, but from the things he _did_ say she assumed he had gone to see his mother. She knew that he hated his mother, so she understood if seeing her would make him upset. To add to his horrible mood, the news kept adding more and more heinous circumstances to her apparent abduction. They had told the public the general story, but had added a horrible twist to it.

Apparently, Sirius had first become obsessed with her while they were at Hogwarts – something Sirius himself told her was very true. What wasn't true was that he had followed her after she left and kidnaped her from her home. He then supposedly raped her repeatedly while he held her captive for over a month. Her brief escape when he was arrested only lasted for the month that he was actually in prison, because when he escaped he immediately began stalking her. He learned that she was carrying his child and abducted her from Saint Mungos, where she was ridding herself of the "death eater spawn."

The last part hurt both of them more than they thought possible. Alex had tried to remember everything exactly as it had happened, but all she could remember was fear and pain. Sirius refused to break through her mental wards to figure out exactly what had happened at Saint Mungos. He assured her that it didn't matter. No matter what had actually happened that she couldn't remember, she **knew** that she never wanted to get rid of the baby. The fact that the entire wizarding world – and probably the muggle one, too, since they were adding her case to his, and the muggles knew all about him – thought that she had gotten rid of their baby on purpose. They had told the world that the baby was a result of rape. While Alex tried to push it to the back of her mind and never think about it, Sirius thought about it all too often. She could always tell because he got quiet and blocked his thoughts from her, and when she finally broke through to him she was always nearly knocked down by a wave of fury.

He had spent the past few weeks working himself into a silent rage. The news that they were being searched for was another cause for discomfort, especially when it was reported that Mad-Eye Moody was declared well enough to be released from the hospital. Sirius knew that if anyone was capable of finding him it was Moody. He had told Alex what had happened on Privet Drive, and he assured her that Moody would definitely not be on his side anymore. Apart from being worried because Sirius was worried, she was really happy that at the very least _she_ didn't have to put up with the great flapping moron anymore. They were both equally furious that no one at Hogwarts or even Mad-Eye himself thought it would be a good idea to tell anyone that Alex was with Sirius of her own free will. Sirius assured her that they just wanted to be able to convert her to their cause so they could use her power, so they were probably letting the lie circulate so that her reputation wouldn't be ruined and she wouldn't be thrown into Azkaban if they ever caught her.

The only time that Sirius was relaxed was when they were doing anything intimate, whether it be hugging or making love. As a result, Alex had even more of an incentive to jump him whenever she wanted. Everything went smoothly for the most part as they kept their balance between rage and bliss.

Of course, everything had to go to hell eventually. They were lying on the couch wrapped around each other when Sirius decided he wanted to know what horrible crimes he had supposedly committed that day, and turned the news on with a wave in the general direction of the wizarding wireless. They listened to the menial news for a few minutes before the daily block dedicated to what Sirius Black was up to came on. The droning voice of the reporter came through with the report:

_Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Bartemius Crouch, came forward to declare that the leak from his department earlier this morning is indeed true. The department has found what they believe to be the whereabouts of Sirius Black. Aurors believe that his captive is with him at this location. Any information about what the Ministry plans to do and when they plan to attack is being withheld. The world can only hope that this is finally the end of Sirius Black. Mr. Crouch has said that if they find out who leaked this information to the media in the first place, that they will be punished accordingly. He encourages the person or persons to turn themselves in to him immediately if they want more leniency._

Alex lifted her head to look at Sirius. He was staring in shock at the wizarding wireless as if he could actually see the reporter. She found her voice after a few seconds, "Do you think they've really found us?"

He turned dark eyes to gaze at her, "I don't know. I can't believe that they would be stupid enough to have actually leaked this information where I could hear it, but, having been in the department for over a year, I know that it isn't impossible. At least we have fair warning."

"What are we going to do?" she pressed.

"As much as I like this place, I guess we'll have to move just in case. There are a few places that no one – not even Moody or Dumbledore – know about," he lifted her off of him as he sat up.

"Your family knows about every house you have, though. Don't they hate you enough to tell the Ministry?" Alex refused to relinquish her hold on his neck so he wouldn't be able to run away from the subject of his family like he usually did.

Finally, he gave up the glaring contest and sighed, "They wouldn't give up any of these places. There are too many dark artifacts and highly illegal things at them. They don't have a hope of pinning them all on me, so the whole family would get in trouble. They wouldn't want any of the collection confiscated anyway since it's taken centuries to make it and it's worth tons."

Alex didn't say anything further. She knew they had to move, and she would rather leave their lovely little cottage than have aurors descend on them. With another lingering kiss to comfort both of them, they went their separate ways to pack everything they wanted to take with them.

------------------

Sirius cursed as he set down his bags in the living room. He had just remembered that he didn't have his signet ring. The ring identified him as the Master and that, along with his blood as proof of his identity as a Black, let him walk right through the wards. If they didn't want to get either blasted into bits by wards or eaten by any particularly vicious pets, he would have to have the ring to get into the property he was planning to go to next.

He felt Alex place a hand on his arm and turned around to see the question in her eyes. He smiled reassuringly, "I need to go get my ring so we can get through the wards at the next place. Finish packing and shrink everything while I'm gone and we can leave right when I get back...If I'm not back in ten minutes I want you to leave here. They might be watching and decide to 'rescue' you while I'm away."

"Where am I supposed to go?" Sirius felt another surge of pride for her. Not many people would agree to the situation without a fight.

"The spring," he answered shortly, "is safe because it doesn't even show up on the map."

She nodded, and he lifted her hand off of him so he could leave alone. Half a second later she changed her mind and he was shoved against the wall before he could even think to leave. He grinned at her show of strength as he was pressed further into the wall in a warning not to defy her. Alex yanked his head down – not that he put up a fight – and captured his mouth in a hard kiss. He wrapped his arms around her to pull her closer.

Being in danger made them all that more aware of each other. The possibility that one of them would get captured (or "rescued", as the case may be) by aurors made the desire to stay as close as possible rage up almost beyond control. Sirius knew, however, that he had to leave her alone one last time. Even if it was only for a few minutes, he still didn't want to do it. He allowed the kiss to go on for several more seconds before he worked up the will to push her away. Her unwillingness to release him from his place against the wall only made it that much harder for him.

"Love, please," his hold around her was probably sending mixed signals as he pleaded for her to let him go, "The sooner I leave the sooner I'll be back."

With one last kiss, she released him with a sigh, "Go before I change my mind."

He grinned at her and pushed away the urge to kiss her goodbye, as was their tradition. She'd taken care of it pretty well on her own, anyway. He settled for staring into her eyes as he disappeared.

--------------------

Alex sighed as Sirius disappeared. She hated being left behind, and she hated these circumstances even **worse** than being left behind. He could be going right into a trap for all either of them knew. She really had no choice but to accept that he knew what he was doing. He would do what he wanted no matter what she said to him. It was just the way he was.

She turned around and walked back into their bedroom to continue packing all of the new clothes she had amassed from their shopping sprees over the past weeks. It only took her a few minutes thanks to the help of magic, and she was back in the living room shrinking everything so it would fit in their pockets. A noise from the entranceway caused her to stop. Sirius never made noise.

She immediately tried to teleport away – knowing that Sirius had anti-apparation wards up – but she was unable to do it. Her eyes widened and her mind raced as she tried again with no luck. A stream of profanity was going through her mind as she realized what had happened. Dumbledore finally must have figured out how Sirius was able to get around Hogwarts, and now the aurors had put up anti-teleportation wards. Another noise came from the entranceway, and she backed slowly towards the kitchen.

Suddenly, a voice rang out, "Miss, are you here?" She didn't answer. "We're here to rescue you. We won't hurt you." She had reached the kitchen door, and looked around the doorframe carefully. "We know you're here somewhere. Come out and this will all be over."

Having seen no one in the kitchen, Alex immediately moved towards the kitchen door. The man kept pleading with her to come out, but she paid no heed. She reached the back door, and threw a look over her shoulder to make sure they hadn't followed her yet. Seeing no one, she turned back around to carefully open the door and peek outside to search for an escape route. Her hand had just touched the doorknob when someone grabbed her from behind.

She screamed as she struck out violently against her captor. An invisibility cloak fluttered to the side as she struggled.She had just managed to free herself from his grasp when aurors rushed in from both doors. She struck one after the other with the most horrible curses she could think of.

"Take her down!" was heard from behind her, and she resisted the urge to spin around and curse the man's balls off. It wouldn't do to turn her back on so many other people no matter how much she wanted to hurt her original captor.

She took down auror after auror, but the stream of them through the doors never stopped. For every one she took out, three more seemed ready to take his or her place. Still, she never stopped fighting even as they closed in around her further and further. As hands grabbed her from all directions, she knew that it was useless to fight under the current circumstances. Even as she hit the ground with numerous aurors pinning her down, she wrenched away enough to look at the man who had first grabbed her.

Upon finally looking at him, she froze. Alastor Moody. Would she never be rid of the man! She glared at him defiantly as he walked closer towards the mass of struggling bodies on the ground that were trying to keep her in place. Panic at being held down was threatening to overtake her, but she fought through it enough to be able to send a curse towards a certain part of Moody's anatomy. He managed to dodge out of the way just in time that the severing charm hit his leg instead of its intended target.

Moody cried out in pain as every man in attendance winced at the thought of what had almost happened. She found herself the object of glares from every direction as the men holding her tightened their grips and doubled their efforts so she couldn't try something like that again. Alex was just sorry that Moody had managed to dodge it, and that it hadn't been strong enough to at least take his leg off instead.

Moody soon recovered enough to continue his walk towards her. He knelt down beside her and met her glare with one of his own as he took her hand in his. Alex couldn't do anything about it since two aurors were holding her arm down. Her eyes widened as fingers closed around the ring Sirius had given her. She protested in rage as Moody removed it from her finger, but to no avail.

He examined it for a few seconds before tossing it to a man who was standing close to the door. Alex continued to protest even as Moody drowned her out with his own voice, "Well if that isn't proof enough that she's with him of her own free will then I don't know what is!"

The man who was now in possession of her ring brought it closer to his face to examine. He soon nodded in acknowledgment of what Moody had said and passed the ring on to a woman standing beside him, saying, "Tag it as evidence. Alex watched through narrowed eyes as the woman glanced at the ring and her eyes widened in surprise. Well, at least she could be glad that someone was admiring **her** ring even if it wasn't on **her** hand.

Her attention was drawn away as Moody's fingers returned to her hand. She stared in horror as he slid a very familiar ring onto her finger to replace Sirius's ring. He had the audacity to laugh at her horror as he said, "Dumbledore remembered what Black had said when he first brought you to Hogwarts. It was easy to get a confession out of Lupin as to which forest you had thrown this ring into, and summoning it back wasn't hard at all. Do you like it? I personally think it suits you much better than the engagement ring."

Alex felt even more fury well up inside of her at his blatant disrespect. She found herself doing what Sirius would have done in such a situation as she spat at him, "Fuck you!"

Moody glared back at her, "Black isn't enough to keep you occupied?"

Now he was calling her a whore! How dare he! Her reply was cut off by the voice of the man who had been tossed her ring, "If you are _quite_ finished, Alastor, I think it would be prudent to get in place for when Black returns. I'm assuming he **will** return for the girl?"

"Yes, Crouch, I've told you time and time again: he's in love with the chit. Dumbledore just thinks that the worst people can be redeemed or he wouldn't have insisted that she was his captive," Moody rose to his feet and walked to stand beside the man who was apparently Crouch, head of the department if Alex remembered correctly.

Crouch ignored Moody's obvious contempt and moved back to the subject at hand. "The wards went up several minutes too late to keep him detained, but I suppose he'll be trying to get back in any minute now. Everyone into their positions, and be ready to fight. He won't go down easily," he warned the aurors in the room.

"We're just going to wait for him? He knows we're here! He'll rip us into bloody little pieces!" Moody exclaimed, "This is the worst plan possible for catching him, and it always has been ! We're _lucky_ he left before the wards went up! If he had been here most of us would be dead and he'd be long gone! He knows how aurors operate! We can't trick him and we can't outsmart him going by the book!"

Crouch yelled at the aurors who had stopped to listen to move along as he spun around to face Moody, "When you're head of the department you can make the decisions! This is how we're doing it!" With that, he turned around and marched out the door.

"We're like rats in a cage!" Moody continued to protest even as Crouch stomped out the door.

"I'll say," came another voice from somewhere behind Alex. She sighed in relief at the sound of his voice as everyone else in the room tensed up. Most of the aurors had vacated the kitchen as they were told to go to their positions, but there were still several aurors charged with holding her down along with Moody and the woman who had been given her ring.

The grips the aurors had on her loosened in their shock and fear, and she was able to twist away enough to watch as both doors and the windows slammed closed. She looked on passively as several of the aurors holding her down hit the floor. Soon enough, the majority of the people still remaining let go of her of their own free will, and she was able to break away from the stubborn ones even in her powerless state. She immediately ripped the ring off of her finger, and was relieved to feel her power erupt full force again. She didn't know if she would be able to take more time being weak.

She didn't even worry about anyone else in the room as she immediately went after she woman trying frantically to open the door. She spun the woman around and shoved her into the door. "Give me my ring," she growled at the frightened woman.

The woman was shaking uncontrollably as she held out her hand. Alex snatched her ring out of the woman's filthy hand and proceeded to hit her with a curse that sent herfalling to the ground while she screamed. Alex turned around to watch the battle between Sirius and the remaining aurors. He had already taken down most of the ones who had been pinning her to the floor, and there were only three of them left. He was focusing most of his attention on Moody.

Alex could hear the other aurors trying to get in the doors, and there were a few of them also working on the windows, but whatever Sirius had done was very effective in keeping them out. She saw one of the aurors aim his wand at Sirius while he was busy dodging a curse from Moody, so she sent her own curse at the man. The stream of bright light caught Sirius's attention, and he turned briefly to glance at her.

His eyes widened, "Watch out!" Even as he was warning her, he was hit with spells from three different directions that sent him flying into the wall. Alex heeded his warning and spun around to see that the woman had regained her courage and was training her wand on her. Alex was beyond fed up with this whole ordeal, and sent an assortment of curses at the woman. She was satisfied when the woman fell into unconsciousness, and turned back around to see how Sirius was doing.

He was just picking himself up off the floor while fending off the three remaining aurors. The aurors outside the kitchen had apparently found something semi-effective at breaking through whatever Sirius had done to the doors and windows, since the door to the outside was slowly breaking opened. Sirius stopped playing around and took down the two other aurors as he faced off with Moody.

"Are you going to make me kill you?" he asked the old auror in a bored tone of voice.

Moody shot a succession of curses that Sirius easily deflected. Sirius quickly shot back curses of his own, and the duel began in earnest. The two men circled each other as they shot curse after curse. Alex watched in trepidation as the door continued to give way little by little. Movement on the floor caught her attention. One of the aurors had regained consciousness and was pointing his wand towards Sirius. Alex began to cry out a warning, but the stream of green light was already erupting from the auror's wand.

Both Sirius and Moody spun around at her shriek. Sirius's eyes widened just as he was hit with the curse. It sent him barreling across the room, and Alex watched him hit the wall and slide to the floor. It was only when she registered that he was screaming that she was able to stop the dread from welling up in her chest. He couldn't scream if he was dead. After the initial shock wore off, she was able to recall that the Killing Curse really shouldn't affect someone whose life was actually anchored in them since all it did was suck the life force out.

It obviously put him through a lot of pain as it _tried_ to suck out something that was basically attached to him. His screams had even Moody and the other auror frozen in place as they watched him writhe around on the floor. Alex was halfway across the room before she even realized she was moving. She kneeled down beside him and ran her hands over him in an effort to comfort him. He had stopped screaming and was gasping for air as he muttered curses. Alex found that she had tears streaming down her face.

She only had a few seconds to hold him before he suddenly shoved her off forcefully. She hit the edge of the table hard. She felt her arm break under the strain and cried out as she finally came to rest on the floor. She rolled over to see Sirius struggling to his feet. Moody had finally snapped out of his stupor and had started casting curses towards Sirius again. Sirius, for his part, was managing to fend off most of the curses as he fought to stand.

Alex growled as she saw the young auror who had cast the Killing Curse in the first place aim his wand towards Sirius once again. She cast a curse at him instead, making all of the bones in his wand arm disappear. He spun around to face her as he dropped his wand. She cast another curse at him, but he rolled out of the way. Alex felt nothing but a compulsion to hurt him for hurting Sirius, and as he rolled closer to her to avoid the curse, she attacked him.

She cried out in pain as she forgot about her broken arm, but quickly regained composure and continued inflicting as much pain as she could on the auror. The man obviously didn't anticipate her enhanced strength, as he looked shocked that his attempts to shove her off him came to nothing. She kicked, hit, and scratched at the man. If nothing else, at least she was distracting the man from Sirius. She didn't know how the curse had affected his strength, but at any rate it would be easier for him to duel Moody if he didn't have to worry about anyone else.

She began to panic as the door gave way more. She could see the aurors through the crack. They had almost forced their way in. Sirius had noticed it, too. He knocked Moody down with one last curse. He watched to make sure the man wasn't moving, and then Alex felt the man underneath her stop struggling.

She shrieked and rolled away. "**Sirius! **Don't kill them when I'm **touching** them!" she chastised as he helped her to her feet.

He grinned sheepishly in apology, but Alex didn't hear what he said to her. She was focused on the movement behind him. Moody had managed to stand up again and was in the middle of saying an incantation.His wand was trained right onSirius's back, and Alex didn't think as she shoved him out of the way. She doubled over and clutched her stomach as the spell hit her.

She fell to her knees and brought her hands up to see blood. It was a severing charm. She didn't know if Moody was trying to get her back, or if it was just the only thing he could think of, and she didn't have time to think about it. Blood was pouring from her stomach, staining both her and the floor. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't react at all. She felt an arm come around her for support, and heard Sirius mutter a severing charm himself. She watched through the haze of pain she was in as Moody crumpled to the floor and screamed.

She didn't have time to figure out what the problem was as the world went dark.


	22. An Ally and a Story

A/N: I haven't really been keeping up with the time in this story as well as I should just for this reason: it would get really tedious if I accounted for every day or every week. I knew the time would never work itself out, so I just mentioned things in weeks and months mostly. Anyways...it is now the beginning of summer just so everyone who reads this knows. For the people who don't read these notes I guess they'll just get to be lost in the enormous plot hole...No need for all you nit-picky people to worry, though, I'll have to keep a really good tab on the time line when we start corresponding with the books soon. I'm **almost** finished setting up for the books (just for the record).

Chapter Twenty-two

Sirius didn't bother to knock on the door in front of him. The only reason he hadn't appeared inside the house in the first place was because he didn't know if it had wards on it. The problem was solved easily as he blew the door opened with a spell. He stepped inside and made sure the door slammed shut behind him and locked as he immediately headed for what he knew from previous emergency visits to be the living room.

He laid Alex down as gently as he could on the couch, and reached out for her through their connection to reassure himself that she was still alive. He almost sobbed in relief to be sure that she wasn't dead, but the fact that she was very weak kept him from being too relieved. He tore himself away from her side and brought forth Padfoot's senses. He found what he was looking for in the form of deep breathing, and followed the sound until he reached a closed door. Sirius prepared himself for a struggle as he opened the door quietly and walked to the side of the bed.

He was amused for about half a second to see the woman before him so mussed up and informal in sleep, but then he remembered Alex. He located her wand on the bedside table and pocketed it. Satisfied that she didn't have any way to defend herself, he placed a hand over her mouth and nose. She was startled awake, and her eyes widened dramatically as they flew opened only to see him leaning over her.

"It won't do you any good to scream, just so you know," he said as he removed his hand as soon as he knew that she was awake.

She continued to stare at him in undisguised terror, "What do you want?"

He didn't have time for small talk. He practically dragged her to her feet as he answered her, "I'm not going to hurt you, Madam Pomfrey. I need you." The healer didn't respond and Sirius didn't speak again as he led her forcefully to the living room.

The woman gasped audibly when they came to a stop beside the couch and she saw the enormous amount of blood coming from the tiny girl lying on it. She wrenched her arm out of his grasp and Sirius got ready to summon her back as she rushed away. His worry was unfounded, however, as she ran to a side table and rushed back to Alex with a medical bag in tow. As much as they had joked about it in school, Sirius was damn glad at the moment that the woman treated injuries no matter who the victim was (with the exception of Voldemort, of course).

He watched anxiously as Madam Pomfrey carefully removed Alex's shirt. The mediwitch's mouth fell open as she finally got a look at the wound. Hell, **Sirius's** mouth fell open as he finally got a look at the wound. Her stomach was split all the way across and Sirius had to fight down the sickness that overtook him at the sight. It wasn't so much to do with the injury itself as he had actively fought in the war as an auror, an Order member, independently, and as an assassin. He had seen wounds just as bad and many that were worse than the one he was gaping at currently. It was the fact that such a wound was inflicted upon Alex that made him sick.

Madam Pomfrey spun around with an accusatory glare in his direction, "What did you do to her!" Apparently even mass murderers weren't safe from her anger and contempt when she thought that they had hurt someone.

The darkening of his countenance and the cold glare he leveled on her made the woman shut up faster than he had ever thought her capable of. Sirius's voice was deceptively calm, "I would **never** hurt her. Alastor fucking Moody tried to get in a cheap shot at my back with a severing charm and she pushed me out of the way."

The healer stared at him in shock for a few seconds longer before she turned back to her patient. Sirius had to turn his gaze away as she examined Alex further. He forced thoughts of them happy together into his mind to fend off the thoughts of how bad she was hurt. Madam Pomfrey's voice brought him back to the situation, "I don't think you should be here for this."

Sirius briefly considered cooperating with the mediwitch, but he knew that Alex would never leave his side in any situation. She had pushed him out of the way in the first place or else it _would_ be **him** lying there bleeding to death. No, there was no way he was going to leave her. He sunk to his knees beside the couch, "I can't leave."

He watched as Madam Pomfrey considered him. He was getting ready to fight her for the right to stay when she surprised him, "Give her this then." Sirius was handed a potion. He stared at it for a few seconds before Madam Pomfrey sighed in annoyance, "Do what I say, Black, or I won't let you stay in my way!"

Sirius found it funny that she thought she could actually make him leave if he didn't want to, but didn't dwell on the humor. He was reassured by her vehemence that she wouldn't intentionally try to harm Alex further, so he gave in to her request. He placed his arm under Alex's head and cradled her to his chest as he lifted her up to make the potion go down easier. He glanced at Madam Pomfrey as he coaxed the potion down Alex's throat, "What does it do?"

"She won't be able to wake up during this," he was answered shortly. Then Madam Pomfrey turned her head to glance at him still cradling Alex to his chest and continued, "There's a lot of damage."

Sirius's gaze snapped to meet hers, "She's going to be okay, right?"

"You're lucky you had a healer whose house you could break into," Sirius could tell that she was avoiding answering the question.

He stared at the healer for several long seconds before he was able to speak, "I would have come to Hogwarts to get you if I had to. You're the only healer I trust with her. You have to make her better." His voice didn't betray the emotion that such words should have contained, as he was too busy concentrating on Alex. No more words were spoken between them as Madam Pomfrey began to work. Sirius could do little else but clutch at Alex's hand and hold her to him as best as he could without disturbing the healer's work.

He and James – while getting healed from various injuries that were so serious that it was worth getting professional attention to heal even if it meant risking a detention if the cause of said injuries were found out – had noticed that Madam Pomfrey had the annoying, although sometimes useful and informative, habit of muttering to herself while she worked. The woman was certainly being chatty as she slaved away over Alex, and Sirius was light-years away from appreciating it. He could see enough damage and blood to ascertain that it was bad, and he was worried enough without having his love's doctor muttering about various organs, appendages, and other things that Sirius had never heard of and had no desire to look up for further knowledge or reference.

After a particularly vehement exclamation, Sirius couldn't take it anymore. He aimed a glare at the woman, "Would you shut up!"

Madam Pomfrey turned her head to stare at him in surprise. The kindly – albeit strict – school nurse was no match for the hardened assassin and, as far as she knew, mass murderer. He soon won the glaring contest, and Madam Pomfrey turned back to the work at hand. The night wore on with no more muttering from the mediwitch. The occasional gasp and exclamation of disgust at the girl being harmed in such a way _did_ escape her lips, but Sirius allowed her these brief lapses without comment. As long as he wasn't getting any information to further sicken him, he didn't care.

Sirius was so caught up with watching Alex's face for any sign of discomfort or awareness that he really didn't care how much time had passed. He was in a constant battle to keep his mind connected to hers, which was made somewhat difficult by the fact that she was unconscious and therefore neither able to connect to him nor feel his presence at all for that matter. Regardless of the difficulty, he was persistent in his attempts to connect to her. For the better part of the night, he had been influencing her dreams to be happy so that her mind would stay calm. He was all too familiar with the possibility of going completely around the bend when nightmares tortured you into thinking they were real.

"I need my wand," Madam Pomfrey's voice broke through to him and caused him to lose his connection with Alex. He turned his head to look at how she was turned away from the couch and realized that she was asking him permission to go and get it. Well, he didn't blame her for being scared to death of him. He realized that he hadn't given her the chance to try and retrieve it when he'd woken her up, so she probably had no idea that her wand wasn't on her nightstand.

He released Alex's hand long enough to reach into his pocket, "Here." Madam Pomfrey accepted the wand from his hand with only a little surprise.

She followed his hand with her eyes as it immediately shot back towards Alex's hand upon being free to do so. Sirius watched as shock came across her face, and followed her gaze to Alex's and his entwined fingers. He watched further as different thoughts and emotions passed through her eyes.

Finally, confusion settled on the woman's features. She addressed him directly for the first time in innumerable minutes even as she knelt back down to get a closer look at the wound, "You really care about her, don't you?"

"Yes," Sirius answered automatically and without hesitation, but soon found himself asking a question of his own, "You actually believed that she was my captive after both seeing us together for so long and witnessing exactly what she's capable of under stress?"

The mediwitch looked taken aback at his question. Sirius had always known that the only people who had reason to doubt the kidnaping story were the Hogwarts staff members. He had also figured that they would take the word of Dumbledore above their own memories. As brilliant as most of the staff members were, they always let their own thoughts and instincts take a backseat to the headmaster's.

Finally, Madam Pomfrey seemed to come up with a voice, "I doubted the story at first. The girl came storming into Hogwarts and had a duel with Albus over you being put into Azkaban. Then there was the fact that she was pregnant. I figured that she became that way of her own free will since she managed to fend off three men for a long time and you're only one man, and, of course, there was the fact that she was defending you in the first place. Then Albus agreed with the kidnaping theory, and what else was I to believe? He wouldn't lie about something so serious."

"Dumbledore doesn't care what the issue is or how it affects anyone," Sirius couldn't stop himself from commenting, "He only cares that his own cause is met. He thinks that the results justify the means no matter what he had to do."

"What results could he possibly be trying to get by lying about a kidnaping?" Madam Pomfrey denied what Sirius had said vehemently.

Sirius turned his gaze to meet hers, "What good would it do Dumbledore's Order to have her power locked up in Azkaban? That's what'd happen if she was ever caught if it was known that she was with me because she wanted to be. They would make her into my accomplice even though they have no proof of it just because she stayed with me after..._everything_," Sirius stumbled over the word as memories assaulted him, "Dumbledore has seen her at odds with Voldemort enough to know that she isn't a death eater. He just endorsed a story that would make the _entire world_ know that she isn't a death eater so that she would be free for him to use after I'm captured."

Madam Pomfrey gaped at him, "Albus Dumbledore would never **use** someone!"

Sirius laughed, "He used me for years! He only called me when he needed something done that no one else would do. He always kept me in the dark as much as possible and made sure I **_knew_** that I was expendable, but then he always expected me to jump up and throw myself into certain danger and risk my life as soon as he asked."

All was silent for a few minutes as both of them returned to their own thoughts. Sirius returned to his job of watching over Alex and Madam Pomfrey turned back to her work. Sirius was surprised by her next timid question, "Is that why you betrayed us?"

Sirius kept his eyes on Alex, refusing to meet her gaze else she see the pain in him. That would give her too much power over him. He swallowed convulsively as he answered, "I didn't betray anyone." He thought of how he'd had a part in Peter's betrayal. He would always blame himself. "Not in the way you think I betrayed anyone anyway" he corrected himself.

He was expecting her to continue with her line of questioning, but she surprised him again with her next statement, "I'm finished with her."

"She's going to be alright?" he let his eyes trail over Alex's stomach skeptically.

"As fine as can be expected. She's lucky it didn't do anything else. I don't think the poor girl could take anything else happening," she began packing everything back into her bag.

Sirius's eyes widened at the implication, "Is she pregnant?"

"No," came the soft reply.

Sirius closed his eyes in dread, "_Was_ she pregnant?"

How much he cared about the answer must have been evident, because Madam Pomfrey went so far as to place a hand on his shoulder, "No, Sirius. This girl won't ever have a baby. I thought you knew or I never would have said anything. I'm sorry."

Sirius's gaze snapped to Madam Pomfrey as she removed her hand from his shoulder. One look at the woman proved that she was telling the truth. He couldn't keep the despair from showing on his face. He turned away from the mediwitch to conceal what he could, "How do you know?"

"I knew from the moment that I had to make the decision to send her on to Saint Mungos," that sent Sirius's mind reeling. He had found out after killing the healer that the man actually had no choice in the matter, but he'd never deemed it important to know exactly what the circumstances had been. The healer was already dead and putting Alex through the trauma of being forced to relive the ordeal would have been as painful as it was useless since it wouldn't change what he had done. This new information that the whole thing had started at Hogwarts completely changed his mind about what he wanted to know.

He never got the chance to start his interrogation as Madam Pomfrey spoke again, "Is there anything else that needs done?" Sirius didn't know why the woman was being so nice to him. Saving Alex's life was one thing, but actually offering to help out with him was something he'd never expected her to do.

He stared at her, "No." In reality, he was hurting like hell. The Killing Curse had taken a lot out of him, and it had felt like he was being put through a muggle blender. He might not know a lot about it – he'd been surprised as hell when he hadn't died – but he knew that nothing short of being knocked out would make him feel better now, and he wasn't going to be unconscious in such a vulnerable position.

The mediwitch surprised him once again with her insistence, "Come now, Mr. Black! From what you've said I assume you've been through a battle with Alastor Moody. You're telling me that you weren't even scratched?"

"I _generally_ don't get hurt in battles if you hadn't noticed. Not unless I'm taken by surprise," he wasn't going to tell her exactly how taken by surprise he had been. She'd never stop fussing until he let her do something to heal him.

Madam Pomfrey shook her head, and he heard her comment under her breath about what a horrible patient he'd always been. He wasn't about to tell her that he'd heard her, since Padfoot's senses wasn't an explanation he was willing to get into. Luckily, she turned her attention to other things. She cast several cleaning charms on both Alex and the couch. After several attempts at cleaning the blood stain off of the couch, she still hadn't succeeded.

After she started mumbling under her breath about how hopeless she was at cleaning charms, Sirius finally took pity on her. It only took him three tries to get the stain completely out of the couch, which was a vast accomplishment that he attributed to sheer power since he was horrible at cleaning charms himself. He grinned at the woman cheekily, "I'm not good at them either."

Madam Pomfrey stared at him for a few seconds, before she aimed her wand at his chest. Sirius's mind was a split second away from confrontation when instead of attacking him she surprised him by casting several cleaning charms at him. He looked down in time to see that several bloodstains had disappeared from his shirt. He didn't get to thank her, since she cut him off, "There's nothing more to be done for her until she wakes up. Why don't I make you something to eat?"

Sirius was hard-pressed to keep his jaw from hitting the floor. He hoped that the school nurse didn't make a habit of coddling murderers. "Why would you do that?" he asked in shock.

"The right hand of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would have no reason to lie about betraying anyone. I expect that such a person would be proud of their status instead of denying that they'd ever betrayed anyone. Plus you care far too much about that girl to be completely evil," Madam Pomfrey had already started walking towards the kitchen even as she gave her explanation.

Sirius could do nothing but trail behind her as he attempted to make sense of what was happening, "You mean you don't think I did..._everything_." He still couldn't force himself to say it. No amount of thinking about the events was going to make it easier to say them aloud.

"I don't rightly know what you've done. I just can't believe that you're evil. I had a hard time believing everything when I just **knew** it was true. Now that I've spent the better part of the night watching you worry yourself sick over that girl, I find it even harder to believe," she was now rummaging through her pantry. Sirius found that he didn't have the words to reply to that. He'd never allowed himself to think about what it would feel like to have someone believe that he wasn't a horrible, evil madman. Madam Pomfrey turned to face him, "Well, what do you want, Black? I haven't got all day to be catering to you!"

He stared at her in shock for several seconds longer before he was able to find his voice, "I don't care, Madam Pomfrey. I honestly couldn't eat much right now."

She scowled at him with a look reminiscent of his Hogwarts days, "None of that, Mr. Black! You need to eat and you **will** eat!" After several more seconds in which Sirius couldn't find the words to express himself, the healer came to the conclusion that he was just being stubborn. She spun on her heel and started summoning things and placing them on the counter, "Have it your way then. I'll just make what I want and force feed it to you whether you like it or not!"

Sirius didn't reply to her declaration, and she didn't say anything further. Silence prevailed between them for several minutes as Sirius's mind was in turmoil. The day couldn't have been any more hard on him. First aurors stormed his house, then Alex was hurt, and to top it all off he had found out that she wouldn't be able to have children. With that thought in mind, he finally found the will to speak, "Tell me what had happened to Alex that you had to send her to Saint Mungos."

It wasn't a request, and he could tell by her posture that she knew that. She turned towards him with a grim expression, "She was hit in the abdomen with a stunning spell. She obviously wasn't aware of her condition or she would have known to protect the baby she was carrying. As it was, she didn't know and it just wasn't big or strong enough at that point to survive."

Sirius was silent for a few moments as more questions arose in his mind. How in hell had she come to be hit by a stunning spell? If the baby had been killed by the spell then why wasn't Alex aware of that? As far as she knew from her jumbled half-memories, they had taken it from her. If she had been told that it wasn't alive then surely the event wouldn't have been half as traumatic as her thinking that they simply took it from her? Well, it still would have been just as traumatic in its own way, but at least she wouldn't have woken up on an operating table under the impression that they were taking it from her just because Sirius Black was the father!

He fired off the accusations at Madam Pomfrey as anger steadily rose in him, and she quickly moved to defend herself, "I don't know what the doctors at Saint Mungos could have been thinking by not telling her, Mr. Black, but I most certainly would have told her if it had been my decision to make."

Sirius was torn between fury and confusion. Had it been almost anyone else he would have already killed the messenger. As it was, he didn't want Madam Pomfrey's blood on his hands if he could help it, and he'd already learned his lesson as far as getting revenge before you know the whole story. He took a deep breath to compose himself as he stared at her icily, "Start at the beginning and don't leave anything out."

"I'm not sure..." she trailed off at the enraged glare he shot her, and quickly decided that it would be best to just tell him what he wanted to know regardless of what his reaction might be to hearing such a story, "Albus had been tied up in meetings almost everyday after the events on Halloween night and everything that happened afterwards (particularly regarding you, I think). He was in his office during dinner while everyone else was in the Great Hall. The doors happened to be opened at the same time that your girl went streaking down the hall. Everyone at the staff table noticed it, and some of the students did, too, I'm sure. We didn't know who it was or what they wanted, but we assumed it was just another Ministry official in desperate need of a statement from Albus Dumbledore, so none of us stopped her. It was only after I had returned to the infirmary that I realized exactly who she was."

Madam Pomfrey stopped to take a deep breath, but Sirius had no patience for distractions from the story. "Go on," his voice clearly indicated that it was an order to be followed immediately.

"I was in my office when Albus started yelling for me. I dropped everything and rushed out at once to see what was the matter, and was shocked to see him hovering over that girl. She was unconscious, and she looked absolutely horrible. I just couldn't figure out what was wrong with her, and nothing I did was helping, so I finally asked Albus what he had done to her. He told me that he had only hit her with a stunning spell, and he was just as confused as I was. I suddenly realized what might be wrong with her, and it turned out that I was right." She paused briefly to look at him sympathetically before continuing, "You have to understand, Sirius, that it's only in the very last stages of pregnancy that a baby will have any chance of surviving on its own after being hit with almost any kind of spell. If it is smaller than that then it will probably die immediately. I found myself face to face with a very rare case when her baby was clinging to life. It must have been exceptionally strong to survive at all, but it left her in a very bad situation since it was sucking all of her power out of her in an attempt to save itself. I've heard of one or two cases of that happening, but I didn't have the means to even attempt to help either one of them. Albus immediately took her to Saint Mungos."

Sirius emphatically added another reason to hate the headmaster to his list, but outwardly he showed no signs of emotion at all. His expression didn't change as he pressed Madam Pomfrey for more information, "She was so weak that she couldn't even stand up. I was amazed that her energy lasted long enough for her to get home at all. As far as I know, the normal procedure for..._that_...doesn't cause those kinds of side effects."

"I can only guess that you want me to tell you that they did something horrible to her on purpose," Madam Pomfrey kept her eyes on him, "I'm sorry to say that I'm not sure what her healer was thinking. I waited up all night for Albus to come back, and when he finally did what he told me made me so furious that I could hardly speak. I didn't know who in their right mind would attempt the normal procedure without at the very least **trying** to separate the baby from its mother's magic. I could only imagine the pain that girl must have gone through when they tried to take it!"

Having had recent experience with something that is attached to you trying to be ripped out of your body, Sirius could connect the dots. "The baby was attached to her magic, and when they tried to take it out of her it ended up trying to rip her magic out of her, too," he whispered mostly to himself. He didn't need to see the look on Madam Pomfrey's face to confirm his suspicions.

"At that time I thought you were horribly evil, so I was furious that, in one night, they had managed to ruin any chance the girl had at having a happy life and forgetting about you. How would she ever move on when she was under the constant reminder that she could never have children?" the mediwitch shook her head sadly.

Sirius almost choked up at the reminder that she would never have children. He turned back to Madam Pomfrey, "You have to tell her. I can't do it."

The woman smiled reassuringly at him, and finally turned back to the job at hand. Sirius was left with his own thoughts as Madam Pomfrey bustled around the kitchen.

--------------------

Alex forced her eyes opened, expecting to see aurors swarming around her. Panic seized her as she took in her surroundings. She had two particularly pressing problems at present: she didn't know where she was or how she had come to be there and she couldn't feel her stomach. Maybe this was one of Sirius's houses. But then, why was she on a couch and not in his bed? For that matter, where was he in the first place? He couldn't have left her all alone!

A myriad of different possible outcomes of the battle played through her mind. She just couldn't figure out what had happened. She was afraid to get up and explore, because if this wasn't Sirius's house then she had no idea whose it was or why she had been brought there. If it was Sirius's house then there's no telling what she might run into by accident that would be much worse than what she was ready to handle. She reached out through their connection and was able to tell that he was perfectly fine, albeit a bit annoyed.

She was contemplating the wisdom in calling out for him when she heard his voice break through the dark room, "I don't want to!"

Alex didn't know what to make out of that. She was spared having to worry about it when the voice of a woman followed, "You've always been the worst patient I've ever had! Now you do what I say right this instant and eat the soup before I force it down your throat!"

"You'll do no such thing! And if you try I'll turn you into a toad!" Alex was so beyond confused that she couldn't even muster up the strength to laugh.

"You need to eat!" the woman retorted, apparently not at all afraid of Sirius.

Sirius, for his part, was indignant and as stubborn as ever, "I've already had two bowls!"

The woman huffed, "Well you need three! When you become a healer you can decide these things for yourself, but until then _I'm _in charge here!"

Throughout the argument, Alex had been able to figure out where the voices were coming from. She had relaxed immensely when she realized that Sirius was near her, and now she wanted nothing more than to have him hold her. She lifted herself up in order to go to him, and couldn't stop the shriek that accompanied the pain she felt. It felt like bolts of lightening were tearing through her entire middle.

She collapsed backwards into the cushions of the couch once more. The next second Sirius was right beside her, his argument apparently forgotten. She tried to lean in closer to his touch, but every slight movement of her stomach brought more pain. Alex had the thought that she was extremely sick of being hurt.

"The pain potion must have worn off while we were in the kitchen. I didn't think she would wake up so soon or I would have paid more attention to the time," the woman had come to stand behind Sirius and was looking at her with concern.

She felt Sirius's hand tighten around hers, "I don't really care what happened. Just fix it."

Alex watched warily as the woman knelt down beside Sirius. He squeezed her hand, and she turned to look at him. He smiled soothingly, "She won't hurt you, Love."

She nodded in acceptance. She would trust him even if she wasn't comfortable with being touched by anyone other than him. Alex tightened her grip on Sirius's hand as the woman worked over her. Eventually, the pain shooting through her abdomen subsided. She sighed in relief as she was able to breathe easier.

"You'll have to apply this potion to her wound every couple of hours for at least a week," Alex ignored the fact that the woman completely ignored her and spoke to Sirius like she wasn't even there. Normally it would have made her mad, but at this point the only thing she cared about was getting closer to Sirius.

Glad that her stomach was completely numb, she wiggled closer to him. With a sigh of relief, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her to him. She lifted her arms to wrap around his neck, but a sudden flash of pain in her arm stopped her. Sirius felt her tense up, and pulled back to look at her, "What's wrong? Does is still hurt?"

"No," she lifted her uninjured arm so she could stroke his cheek, "it's my arm. It's broken." She wasn't about to tell him that he was the one who caused her to break it. It was such a simple thing that she didn't want to have him feeling bad over it.

The woman who had been hovering over them clucked in disapproval, "Why didn't you say anything when we were working on her earlier, Mr. Black! I'm sorry, dear, just let me retrieve my wand and I'll get right on it."

Alex had just managed to place where she knew the woman from, and had turned to Sirius in surprise. He squeezed her hand reassuringly as he stopped the woman from leaving, "No, I'll do it." He placed his hand over the place on her arm that was obviously broken, "I can't believe I didn't notice this before, Love. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for a tiny break, Sirius, when you went through so much more," she raised her newly healed arm to put a hand on his other cheek and looked into his eyes, "Are you okay?"

"I'm perfectly fine," she watched as he smiled, but she could tell from the tone of his voice that he was forcing it.

Alex scowled at him, "Sirius Black! How dare you lie to me! I can tell when you do it! Furthermore, I can feel perfectly well how exhausted you are!"

The smile faded as he sighed, "Please, Love, don't make a big deal out of nothing. I'm sore as hell and I feel like I've been run over by stampeding hippogriffs, but I'll live."

The Hogwarts nurse, who Alex now recognized vividly, gasped in outrage, "You said you weren't injured!"

"I'm not!" Sirius retorted in exasperation.

Alex knew that if he was truly hurt he would ask for assistance. He had a passion for living and wouldn't let himself be taken down simply through stubbornness, after all. She decided to leave him be until they were alone and she could more easily pry a confession out of him as to how bad it really was. She settled for a change in subject, "Where are we?"

"My house, dear. Mr. Black woke me up in the middle of the night so I could heal you," Madam Pomfrey supplied the answer.

Alex frowned and looked to Sirius for answers, "Tell me what happened."

A look of rage found its way onto his devastatingly handsome face, making him look slightly more dark than usual, but Alex knew that it wasn't directed towards her. She waited patiently, and he finally regained control over himself enough to speak to her, "Moody hit you with a severing charm, Love."

It seemed to Alex that a shadow had crossed over the room as she remembered everything with sudden clarity. She closed her eyes as she ran timid fingers over her abdomen. Finally, her curiosity won out over her other emotions, and she turned back to Sirius, "What did you do to him?"

He looked pleased for a fleeting moment at her remembering, but then what she had asked sunk in and he frowned again. "I hit him with a severing charm of my own. I decided to finish what you had started," at her confused look, he explained, "I was there most of the time, Love. I was going to storm the kitchen at the first sign that they were going to do anything other than restrain you, but I preferred to wait until there was less than an entire army in the room."

Satisfied with his reasons, Alex allowed herself to process what he had said he had done to Moody. She stared at him in shock. "You cut off his penis!" she was finally able to form the words in an undignified squeak.

Sirius burst out laughing as Madam Pomfrey looked alarmed. After several seconds of hilarity, he finally managed to get control over himself. "N...no...I took off hi...his...leg," he managed to choke out between gasps for breath and more laughter.

Alex wasn't at all surprised that he was able to laugh despite talking about removing a person's leg. She knew that he was not at all sorry about what he had done, and therefore didn't have any bad thoughts about it to speak of. Madam Pomfrey, on the other hand, was turning an alarming shade of green, "You did what!"

Sirius, who had finally managed to stop laughing, answered her shortly, "Took off his leg." He then turned back to Alex with a grin, "Being a man, I don't think I'll ever harm that particular part of another man's anatomy...ever. Unless, of course, we're talking about Wormtail. I have many interesting ideas for torturing him if I ever get my hands on him."

Madam Pomfrey was still looking horribly nauseous when they were all startled by a knock at the door. Sirius immediately scooped Alex up and headed for the healer's bedroom as he shot her a look over his shoulder, "Not a word, Madam Pomfrey."

As the door was closed and locked behind them, Alex pressed her forehead against his. She opened her mind to him as she sent him her question, "Why didn't we just leave?"

"She doesn't think I'm evil, so I trust her not to say anything to whoever it is. Dumbledore must have had both anti-apparation and anti-teleportation wards put on every Order member's house since I've tried unsuccessfully to do both," his voice came into her head.

He said a quick spell to make the bed, and then laid her down on top of the blankets as he came to rest beside her. Alex wanted desperately to curl up against his chest so he could hold her to him, but she found that the pain in her stomach came back when she moved too much. She had to settle for laying her head on his shoulder and nuzzling into his neck. Sirius ran his hands up and down her back and pressed kisses into her hair, but she could feel his tension.

Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore, "If you're going to listen, then I want to know what's going on, too."

Suddenly, voices filled her head. She knew that he had opened his mind to her so that she could hear what he was hearing. The first voice she heard made her freeze immediately, "...sure there is nothing you can do, Poppy?"

"In cases like these there is nothing to be done, Albus," the voice of the mediwitch floated into her head, "I'll go with you and have a look at him since I don't trust Saint Mungos to do what is right, but I won't offer you any hope."

"I sincerely hope that you are wrong, Poppy. It would be very unfortunate if he has to stay like this. He is such a wonderful auror, after all, and an injury like this will ruin his career in the field. I don't see Alastor doing very well behind a desk while he listens to other aurors telling battle stories."

Madam Pomfrey's voice was now louder, and Alex assumed that she was getting closer, "I think that it is high time he retired anyway. A life of war isn't good for anyone."

"Even so, I don't think that my guilt will subside if we are unable to replace the leg," luckily, the headmaster's voice wasn't getting any closer.

"Why would you feel guilty?" Madam Pomfrey was closer than ever.

Alex tensed as she sensed the headmaster's voice getting closer with his next words, "I convinced the minister to pressure Bartemius to attack Black. I presumed that it would be a simple raid since the ministry boasts that its aurors are highly trained. If I had known that the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was so incompetent I would have called upon the Order to capture Black."

Madam Pomfrey sounded like she was just on the other side of the bedroom door, "You aren't the one who made a mistake, Albus. What happened to Alastor is entirely the fault of whoever pushed ahead their plan of attack."

"I might believe that myself one of these days, Poppy. Do you need help gathering your supplies?" Alex began to panic as his voice got ever closer. She was so startled that she lifted herself up quickly to look over Sirius at the bedroom door, quite forgetting about her injury. The pain hit her almost at once, and she collapsed back onto the mattress with a sob muffled into Sirius's shirt.

She barely registered the healer's next statement, "No, Albus, don't trouble yourself. You go ahead and check in on Alastor. I'm sure that you'll be able to keep him calm and collected until I get there. I might be quite a few minutes."

She felt relief through the pain as she heard the headmaster give his consent. A few moments later, Madam Pomfrey opened the bedroom door to find Sirius cradling her shaking, crying form in his arms. Sirius was casting calming charms on her, but he glanced up briefly as the mediwitch made an exclamation about her state of injury, and deemed it safe enough to talk, "You're a member of the Order of the Phoenix and I'm an escaped convict who they are searching for. We can't stay here. I have to get Alex somewhere safe where Order members aren't constantly popping in."

"She needs medical attention for at least another week, Sirius," Sirius turned to face Madam Pomfrey fully. Alex clutched at his shirt as he shifted, and was only able to accept the fact that he wasn't leaving her arms after he settled back down and pulled her more comfortably against him.

"I will keep her in bed for a week at the very least, and if anything goes wrong I'll bring her back to you immediately," Alex felt herself finally succumbing to Sirius's spells as she became more sleepy, "They know that she is with me of her own free will now, and they'll throw her into Azkaban in the best case scenario. The worst case scenario is that they give her the kiss just like they will me if they ever catch me. I would turn myself in right now if it meant that she would be safe, but she would either turn herself in or kill herself if anything happened to me...just like I would if anything happened to her. We have to stick together. My main priority is staying with her and keeping her safe while I'm doing it. Staying in this house with Order members prancing about just isn't an option."

Alex only caught half of what he said, and retained none of the meaning. His voice was having a soothing effect on her, and she just couldn't pay attention to anything else as she felt the vibration that was him speaking run through her. She didn't even hear Madam Pomfrey's response as she was lulled to sleep by his spells, his soothing hands, and his deep voice.

------------------

A/N: Point the first: to my knowledge it hasn't been said exactly how Alastor Moody lost his leg. I've just made up my own little version that'll be sure to add to the tension later on...I **do** love tension. Point the second: I never saw any real proof that Madam Pomfrey was a member of the Order, I just made it up with nothing real to go on from the facts as far as I know them. Really I was just using her to show that Dumbledore is manipulative and abuses his influence (in my story anyways...I'll say nothing about how I feel he really was in canon). I had planned on either Madam Pomfrey or another character becoming Sirius and Alex's ally sometime around now in the story, it just happened to turn out that the nurse was the best option and the other character will have to wait until later.

Now that everyone else is out of the way...poor Alex, I know. Poor Sirius, too...he was really beginning to like the idea of a baby, wasn't he? Just so everyone knows...I might not be a nice person...but I'm not particularly cruel. I've been planning on Alex not being able to have children since before I even posted the first chapter, and it will propel the plot forward in a major way later on.


	23. No One Can Argue With Penguins

Chapter Twenty-three

It was too hot for comfort. It was too hot for thinking. Being raised where he was raised meant that Sirius was used to the cold and the rain mostly. This hundred and fucking _million_ degree weather of Florida was torture for him. The humidity wasn't helping one bit, either, since the air was so thick that he could barely breathe. He had methodically gone through and cast cooling charms on every available surface in the house as soon as he had Alex settled in – not that it was a hard task since there were only four rooms with very sparse furniture at the moment. He'd decided to leave the house to brave the scorching sun to cast wards should anyone _happen_ to find them (which he seriously doubted with every fiber of his being as being possible). He'd briefly entertained the thought of placing cooling charms on their clothing, but it just wasn't practical to maintain them everyday. Sirius was now rethinking that decision since he'd been outside for all of five minutes, and had already managed to shed almost every article of clothing he had.

He endured the heat and the sweat for another few minutes, but then he decided that if someone managed to find them there that they could just walk in without going through wards for all he cared. They would probably drop dead within seconds of standing out in the sun with their robes on anyway. He started back for the relative comfort of the house, stooping to pick up some random article of clothing every few yards. As he finally stumbled through the door he let out a relieved sigh to feel the cooling charms still holding up. He leaned against the chilly wall for another moment before moving into the kitchen to stick his head under the tap.

Sirius was going to be beyond furious if Alex didn't appreciate his choice in location. It wasn't even a Black residence. He'd just decided that they needed to get away from the atmosphere in Europe. At least there was the ocean here. He'd chosen a house right on the beach since he knew that Alex had never seen the ocean. He was starting to debate whether a better idea would have been to let her visit Antarctica...they had an ocean there and it was much less hot. Plus there were penguins. No one can argue with penguins...

He swept his sweaty hair out of his face in annoyance as he walked into the bedroom to finish unpacking. Alex had managed to get most of their belongings shrunken and into her pockets before the aurors had interfered. Alex mumbled something and he glanced over at her sleeping form. She looked even more tiny and frail than ever lying in the enormous bed. Madam Pomfrey had followed along behind him as he carried her through the house and out the front door, and had fought him right up until he'd finally teleported away. Sirius had understood perfectly that Alex needed medical attention, but it wouldn't have done any good if either of them had been killed or captured. Now he had no choice but to watch and worry as she slept fitfully. After a few seconds in which she still didn't wake up, Sirius turned back to his task.

He opened several suitcases full of clothes, toiletries, books, and random magical objects. He put them all away absentmindedly as he continued on. When he was about to open the next to last box, he heard movement behind him. His job quickly forgotten, he turned around to watch as Alex shifted. At the slight movement, she tensed up and let out a moan of pain. Sirius found himself on the bed beside her in the next instant.

"Relax, Love," he gently pushed her back against the pillows.

Her hands came up to grasp his arm as he pulled back. "Don't leave," she commanded softly.

Sirius had never had any intention of leaving, he was just going to walk around to his side of the bed to join her. When she didn't release his arm, however, he changed plans. He climbed over her carefully, being sure to avoid so much as touching her so that she wouldn't be jarred. Once he had safely reached his side of the bed, he settled down beside her.

After Alex had calmed down, Sirius summoned the potion Madam Pomfrey had given him as he lifted up her shirt. No words were spoken as he liberally applied the concoction to her wound. The silence still prevailed after he was finished. Alex lifted her hands to tangle in his hair and pulled him down for a kiss. Nothing needed to be said for both of them to realize how relieved the other was that they were both alive and together.

When they finally separated it was only because of Alex's sudden yawn. Sirius lowered his head to bury his face in her neck. "You should rest. This has taken a lot out of you," he spoke against her skin.

"Yes it always takes a lot out of me," she huffed angrily, "I can't go a month without being confined to bed for one thing or another!"

"Well I plan on leaving the wizarding world as soon as you're well. Unless you plan on getting a horribly infected paper cut or something equally as ridiculous then you won't be getting injured ever again," he kissed her neck comfortingly. He knew how frustrated she was with being hurt.

Alex sighed in acceptance, her hands resuming their journey through his silky hair. "You should rest, too. If I know you, you haven't been to bed at all. You got hit with a killing curse for Merlin's sake! I'm ordering you to stay in this bed at the very least until I wake up again," she emphasized the command by tugging on one of his black locks, which she had twisted around a finger.

"Yes, Love," he conceded with no more protest than an exasperated sigh. He could tell that it was going to be a very long couple of weeks. He had too much going through his mind to sleep, and he contented himself with holding Alex to him as she found sleep herself.

--------------------

If Alex had been aware of Sirius's fear that it was going to be a long couple of weeks, she would have agreed with him wholeheartedly. As the days progressed, she recovered nicely, although she still wasn't back to her old self. Of course, it had been so long since she had been completely well that she doubted if her memories of what it felt like were accurate. As it was, Sirius was under strict orders from Madam Pomfrey to not let her strain herself until the potion was completely used up. By Sirius's estimate, they still had another four or five days until that happened.

They had been in America for about a week and a half, and Alex had yet to even hear an American accent. She hadn't been allowed out of the house. She had been so furious that Sirius had relented and disobeyed the healer's orders to keep her bedridden for at least a week after only three days. However, he had only gone so far as to pick her up and move her to the living room or the kitchen himself, and he had insisted that she stay indoors. Things were tense between them. Not only because of Alex's frustration, but also because of Sirius's distraction. It was painfully obvious to her that something was bothering him horribly, but he had yet to mention anything.

Well, that was going to change today if Alex had anything to do with it. She was going to ask him outright what was wrong and get her answer. As a matter of fact, a lot of things were going to be different today. She decided that she would start with the easiest obstacle to overcome, and get him to take her to the beach. It was absolute torture for her to be able to smell and hear the ocean and not be able to go to it.

"Sirius!" she called for him loudly.

A few moments later, he walked through the bedroom door like she knew he would. "I see you've finally decided to wake up, Love. Where do you want to sit today?" he sat beside her on the edge of the bed and stroked her hair.

"The beach," she said firmly, and aimed a glare at him just daring him to protest.

Protest he did, "You aren't healed!"

Alex grabbed the hand that was running through her hair and squeezed it. Hard. She might not be able to move around because of the pain in her abdomen, but she sure as hell hadn't lost any of her magically enhanced strength. Sirius winced and attempted to pull his hand back, but she held fast. With a sickeningly sweet voice, she spoke once more, "You, Sirius Black, have no right to confine me to this house. If you were in my position you would have already crawled to the beach if that's what it took to get there, so where do you get off keeping me in here all day? I can sit on the beach just as well as I can sit on the couch!"

She finally released his hand, and he glared at her, "Ow!"

"That was for thinking I'm helpless," she informed him derisively.

After another few seconds of glaring, his expression suddenly softened. He sighed, "Point taken, Love. I'll take you to the beach."

True to his word, he picked her up and began the walk to the beach right after he had forced her to eat breakfast. Alex was amazed. She had never imagined what it would be like, but she immediately fell in love with the ocean. The waves crashing on the shore were hypnotizing. Sirius placed her on a beach chair he had conjured and sat down beside her.

Alex turned to look at him, "Tell me what's wrong."

He continued to stare out at the water as if he hadn't heard her at all, but she could see the tension in him that meant he was thinking about whatever it was. She placed a hand on his shoulder and sent him as much reassurance as she could through their connection. Finally, he opened his mouth, "Dumbledore knows more than he's letting on. It makes me nervous not knowing what he knows about me...about us."

"What do you mean?" Alex was getting truly nervous now. If Sirius was worried then she knew it had to be bad. She knew enough of Dumbledore to know that being afraid of what he could do was advisable. She wasn't afraid of his power or his magical ability, but his influence and connections in the world made him someone to be wary of. If anyone could find them and amass a force to capture them it was Dumbledore.

"The ring, Alex, how did he get the ring? Moody said they'd found it in the woods, but that isn't true. James found it and gave it to Lily," it suddenly clicked into place for Alex as she remembered how the redhead had offered it back to her, "If he was lying about that, then was he lying about getting a confession out of Remus? It wouldn't be hard at all to figure out that I was in his woods...but if he really did talk to Moony, then what else does he know about me? Does he know about Padfoot? He lied to Moody, too, and he's probably lying to the rest of the Order, as well. I don't know who all is in on his plans for me – and that makes me nervous, too, not knowing everyone who knows whatever he does – but he has them all thinking that he found that ring in the woods. So did he just happen to get the ring after James and Lily died, or were they in on it, too? If they were in on it, then how much did they know about why Dumbledore needed the ring? If they were in on it, then what did he say to get them to betray me? If they were in on it, then what in my life has been carefully planned out by Dumbledore? He knows that I listened to James's advice above anyone else's, so what could he have had me do under that advice? If they were in on it, then who else was in on it? What the hell does the man want from me!" He turned to face her, and she was taken aback by the emotions on his face and in his eyes. He was devastated that his best friend might have helped Dumbledore against him, he was furious that Dumbledore was apparently playing with his life, and he was afraid that Dumbledore knew something that would be the ultimate end of both him and her.

Alex didn't know what to say to comfort him. She could only state the obvious, "We have to get away as soon as possible. We have to go somewhere where you'd never go."

"No," he turned back to look at the waves, "we have to keep moving. We can't stay in one place for long enough to get settled down. We'll have to let ourselves be seen in obvious places – London, Dublin, Paris, Rome – to throw them off the trail."

"That's a lot of running, Sirius," she watched his shoulders slump, "but I think that if anyone is up to it, then it's you."

He continued to stare at the water, "I'd hoped to settle down somewhere and give you a semi-normal life."

Alex squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, "Who needs a normal life when you can travel the world? I'll get to see it all. We can go wherever we want and see whatever we want." He turned to grin at her in relief before turning back to watch the waves.

They were silent once more as both of them thought of what was in store for them. She watched him eye the ocean as he sighed again. It only took a few seconds for her to figure out what he wanted. It was the same thing she'd been waiting for ever since she'd found out where she was. She thought that it was sweet that he wasn't going just for her. She laughed as he sighed wistfully again, "Go ahead, Sirius, before you explode with anticipation."

He turned to look at her in surprise before a genuine smile lit up his face. He stood and started stripping even as he spoke again, "You're the best, Love. I'll be back in a second."

Alex smiled after him as he made a break for the water. She watched with a smile as he dove amongst the waves. Only four or five more days before she could join him. One last dive and he made his way back towards shore. He walked back up to her with a grin on his face and water dripping off of him. She was sprayed with water as he purposefully shook it out of his hair in her direction.

He plopped down on his knees in front of her, "You'll be joining me soon, Love."

Alex reached out to thread her fingers through his wet hair. Water was dripping from his bangs onto his face as she brought his head down for a kiss. The slight taste of salt water did nothing to deter her as she let him deepen the kiss. Eventually, she pulled back to look into his sparkling gray eyes, "I love you, Sirius. No matter what happens I'll go with you anywhere."

His entire countenance softened at her words, "I've been a really bad guardian, haven't I? I promised that I'd take care of you if you came with me, and yet I've let so many things happen to you."

"I'd rather be bedridden and crippled until the end of the world and be with you than be made into a porcelain doll, locked safely away, and forced to be with anyone else," Alex declared confidently.

Sirius pulled her into a gentle embrace and grinned into her neck, "That's one of the most cliched lines a girl's ever given me." He placed a kiss against her skin, "Thank you."

Alex sighed in contentment and tilted her head to the side to give him better access as he resumed kissing her neck. After a few minutes, she pulled his head back to capture his lips again. With a sigh, he pulled away completely. Their eyes locked, and Sirius smiled, "We'll go around the world then, Love. I'll take you wherever you want to go."

The smile on Alex's face faded as a thought crossed her mind. She reached up to caress his cheek, "I think we should wait to have a baby." She watched as a shadow passed over his face, and rushed to continue, "It wouldn't be fair to have a baby if we're going to be moving all the time. Plus I think pregnancy would be a burden if we're going to be traveling."

Sirius laid his head against her shoulder, "Oh, Love, it would be so easy to lie to you. It would be so easy to just agree with you so I could put off telling you."

"Telling me what?" he was making her nervous.

He wrapped his arms around her, and said barely in a whisper, "We can't have kids."

Alex wasn't sure that she understood him. She wrapped her arms around him in return, "We have all the time in the world, Sirius. We can have them someday."

She felt him shaking his head, "No, Alex. We can't. It was that damned healer. He...Merlin, Love, I can't say it...I..," he choked on the words.

Alex had never seen him like this. She rubbed his back soothingly, "Tell me, Sirius. Open your mind and show me."

He clutched her tighter as a sudden torrent of memories flowed into her mind. She froze as she saw through Sirius's eyes the ordeal with Madam Pomfrey. The words that were spoken chilled her to the very core. She couldn't think or react at all as the story was laid before her. No children? She couldn't have a baby? The world had never seemed so unfair to her.

As her mind was suddenly back on the beach in Sirius's arms, she dissolved into tears. Long minutes of desperate sobbing on his shoulder did nothing to relieve the grief she felt. He did nothing to try to quiet her, and for that she was grateful. All she knew to do was cry. She couldn't think of anything else.

--------------------

Sirius couldn't sleep, not that it was anything new. He hadn't been able to get a good night's sleep for over a week...not since he'd told Alex that she couldn't have children. Alex had started having the nightmares again ever since that day on the beach. She hadn't asked him to take her back to the beach since then. She hadn't asked him to take her anywhere. She was resigning herself to wasting away in bed.

Sirius wasn't able to sleep when she was in so much grief. She sheltered him from it when she was awake, but when she was asleep she couldn't do anything to block her feelings from him. He could have easily blocked her from his mind with no help from her, but he would never do such a thing. He preferred to be awake and ready to wake her up as soon as her nightmares began. He had made the mistake of falling asleep the first night, but had soon been woken up by her screams. He absolutely refused to let her dream about the hospital again, and so he laid awake while she managed to get a few hours of sleep before the nightmares started.

Sirius was disheartened that they couldn't have a baby, and was grieving in his own way. Alex, however, was a completely different person after finding out. He knew that she would never be the same. At first, she had refused him when he tried to be near her. It had taken him several days of persuasion to convince her that he didn't think anything was her fault. She had thought that he would think less of her...that he would eventually grow tired of her and want to go find a woman who could give him a family. Sirius, of course, thought no such thing. The few days it had taken him to completely convince Alex that he still loved her had been more than enough time for him to become enraged. The healer was already taken care of, but Sirius had moved Dumbledore right to the top of his list for vengeance. The man had let a healer who had no clue what he was doing work on Alex! In the very darkest corners of Sirius's mind, he held onto the belief that the headmaster might have done it on purpose. If that was the case, he would certainly find out and then find out why. As it was, Albus Dumbledore now ranked above even Peter Pettigrew on the list of people Sirius's hated. Wormtail had fucked with Sirius and even the Potters and Remus, but Dumbledore had fucked with Alex, and **no one** hurt Alex and got away with it.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a moan coming from the body beside him. He quickly turned to her and coaxed her awake gently with his hands and his voice. Even though she had only had the very beginning of the nightmare, she still had tears pouring from her eyes when they finally opened. Gray met turquoise as their gazes locked, and she lifted her arms up for him. Sirius immediately went to her, kissing her face as she buried her hands in his hair. After a few minutes, her tears finally dried. She let go of the silky black locks she had wrapped around her fingers and moved her arms to wrap around his neck instead.

"I thought I told you to sleep," her voice was soft, but he caught the threat of anger behind the words.

Sirius shifted so that he could put his arms around her, "I thought I told you to stop worrying about me."

Her arms tightened around his neck, "I can't stop worrying about you."

"I can't go to sleep while you experience your worst nightmare every night," his retort was said gently, but he knew that she could pick up on the hard resolve behind it. He knew that she was trying to think of a proper comeback, but, after a few seconds when none came, he interrupted her efforts, "I wish you would let me make you a Dreamless Sleep Potion."

She shook her head negatively, "No, I won't become addicted to it."

"Being an addict isn't so bad," he had a playful tone to his voice.

"Oh?" Alex turned her head to gaze into his eyes, "I assume you don't mean Fire Whiskey?" Her question was, of course, referring to the numerous glasses of one alcoholic beverage or another that he nursed throughout the day.

Sirius smirked at the memories, "No, Love, much harder things. There are some magical plant extracts that work wonders, you know. You can feel utterly down before you take it, and five minutes later be on top of the world watching hippopotamuses dressed in drag doing the waltz. A fairly good waltz, too."

Alex raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you saying that you were an addict, then?"

"Not really," he grinned, "I had a few (or a few dozen) run ins with some pretty odd stuff. I was only ever addicted to cigarettes, though."

"Why on earth would you pick up such a useless muggle habit?" she searched his face for any sign that he was teasing her.

Sirius, however, was completely serious for once. "All the cool kids were doing it!" he defended himself dramatically. Her face showed reproach, and he quickly dropped the playfulness, "Really, Love, it was just a stupid mistake made by a stupid teenager. It was a real bitch to quit, too."

"Hence the reason I will not become addicted to that potion," she declared.

"I didn't need the drugs, though, Love. Well, I needed something and they just happened to be one thing I turned to for release, but it wasn't like they were my only option...What about you? You _need_ something to get rid of these nightmares," he stroked her side as he tried to comfort her and reason with her at the same time.

Alex sighed at the touch and wiggled closer into his chest. He waited almost a full minute for her to answer, and was just about to speak again when she finally did, "I _need_ you."

Sirius almost groaned at the temptation, but he wasn't entirely sure that she was alright physically. He voiced his concern, adding, "It's been so long that I might not be able to be gentle, you know."

A light giggle escaped from her lips, "Yes, and I suppose that waiting for another few weeks just to be **sure** I'm healed will make you much more able to be gentle." He opened his mouth to retort, but even in his brilliance he couldn't find fault with her reasoning. Her hand trailed down his stomach, "I don't need any damned potion to make me feel better. You make everything go away. The only thing I can think about when I'm with you, Sirius Black...is _you_."

Sirius tried to resist, he really did, but when her hand reached its target he knew that there was no way he was going to stop by himself. Despite his initial fear that he would hurt her, he was able to be exceptionally gentle. He made a valiant attempt to hold himself up off of her still tender stomach, but she would have none of it. She pulled him down until he was barely holding any weight off of her.

Their eyes met and neither of them were able to break the stare. Sirius was surprised to see none of the grief and pain that had been in her eyes all week. Her eyes were clouded with lust and pleasure, but beyond that love shined up at him. He had his mission then. He was going to make her forget her pain even if it took everything he had.

--------------------

They only spent two more days in Florida. Despite Sirius's playful jest that he should be allowed to visit the nudist colony located in the state, Alex had insisted that they leave. She had done much better after finally letting Sirius reclaim his position in her life (so to speak). However, that didn't mean that she wanted to stay anywhere near the place. It had been added to the growing list of places that held memories too horrible to bear.

They had briefly visited a variety of Sirius's ancestral homes to pick up a few items that Sirius said he couldn't wait to retrieve. Among the items was a book hidden in a secret room in a library, several keys, and many objects that Alex truly had no knowledge of.

After that they had no plans at all. They had decided to go to whatever place they were in the mood to visit. The only thing that mattered was that they were together, after all.

--------------------

A/N: The next chapter (or _maybe_ two) will just go over the happenings of the next few years. The story isn't going to just pick up with Harry's first year; it'll be several years before that. Despite that I didn't feel right just skipping right to it...but I'm looking forward to that time so I hope I can get the few chapters out really fast.


	24. Prancing through a Meadow of Daises

A/N: Okay, just so everyone doesn't get confused by the time line I'm going to explain it here...

**October 31, 1981 **– Sirius goes to Azkaban. **Early December, 1981** – Alex loses baby, Sirius escapes, and they are reunited. **Summer, 1982 **– cottage swarmed by aurors, Sirius takes Alex to Madam Pomfrey's house. **September, 1983** – first section of this chapter. **December, 1985** – second section of this chapter, and also the beginning of next chapter, when they rejoin the wizarding world to an extent.

Chapter Twenty-Four

It took over a year for Alex to recover properly. It was a hard and trying process, but eventually they both saw the rewards. Her power had overcome everything set against it, and she had _finally_ regained use of her full magic and strength. They were both so happy about it and both so confident in her regained abilities that even Sirius (as overprotective as he was) could be talked into dueling with her on occasion. He still had a habit of holding back his own power when he was facing Alex, but that was just another obstacle added to her list of things to overcome.

Compared to the emotional and mental problems, dealing with her physical problems was like prancing happily through a meadow of daises. The fear that he would rather have children than stay with her was a hard thing to get over. It took a few months to make her completely confident that she really did have Sirius tied down and wrapped around her little finger. Even when she had decided that she was indefinitely stuck with him, it still didn't help her to come to terms with the fact that she wasn't going to be able to have children. Sirius refused to let her sink back into state she was in right after she left Saint Mungos. He never let her pull away from him no matter how much her mind told her to. In the end, it was Sirius's insistence that finally broke through to her and made her accept the fact that she wasn't going to be a mother.

Alex felt that she was ready to go somewhere around people. She had been with only Sirius for company for over about two years, and she was almost sure that she had overcome her fear of people in that time. She thought of it as somewhat of an ultimate test of how much she had healed. She hadn't been able to be around people in a very long time, and she wanted to see if she had changed at all in that regard. It was early in September when Sirius finally decided that it was a good idea to go out. He said that since school was just starting back, Dumbledore would be too busy to devote his full attention to their actions.

The only problem left to solve was exactly where they would go. Sirius insisted on a place with a ton of people. He thought that maybe a club or a bar would be a good idea. If Alex wanted to leave suddenly, he reasoned, then they wouldn't be noticed. As opposed to if they went to a restaurant or something similar, where they would be noticed immediately if they decided to just leave. Even his persistent questions about whether or not she really felt that she was ready to join a crowd couldn't persuade Alex that she should wait. After she insisted that they go, Sirius took it upon himself to choose the location. He thought that seeing a concert might take her mind off of the people. Plus, he had added, most of the people would either be at the bar or in the mosh pit right in front of the stage and they could just hang out in a secluded corner.

It was on a Saturday afternoon that Sirius randomly grabbed Alex from behind while she was going through cabinets in the kitchenette of the hotel they were currently inhabiting in Sydney, Australia. Without further preamble or warning, he suddenly teleported them away. By the time Alex was able to get her bearings, Sirius was already casting more spells at her. She had just looked around enough to decide that they were in an ally and that it was night instead of day, when she looked down in surprise to see herself dressed in tight fitting dark clothes with the name of something she didn't recognize on her shirt.

"It's a band," Sirius said from his place in front of her.

Alex looked up at him, fully intending to berate him for taking her by surprise. What she saw, however, made her stop talking altogether. She looked him up and down with interest. His eyes were lined in a thick line of black, which was smudged somewhat. The end result was that it brought out his dark eyes and made them look even more fathomless than usual. He was wearing a shirt similar to hers – she assumed the words written across it denoted another band – but what really caught her attention was the jeans. They were rather tight, and looked quite worse for wear. It looked like he had worn the same pair everyday for a great amount of time if she was going by the fact that they were faded and ripped in various places. He turned around and started walking towards the street, and Alex found herself looking at his ass, which looked really good in the jeans...

She was brought out of her trance when he turned around and she found herself looking at something other than his lovely rear end. She snapped her eyes up to meet his smirk, and scowled at him, "Where are we?"

He held out his hand for her. After she had walked forward and claimed it, he led her to the end of the ally. They emerged on the street and were immediately surrounded by lights, people, and buildings. Alex moved closer to him more out of surprise and reflex than out of fear. Sirius grinned at her, "This, Love, is New York City."

Alex stared at him in shock, "_Why_ are we here?"

"I'm going to take you out, of course, and what better place to not get noticed than here?" he wrapped his arm around her waist and started walking down the street.

She was still surprised that he had even thought to bring her to New York City, much less that he seemed to know exactly where he was going. She leaned into him as they walked, "When have you been here before?"

"Well, that's a story you're asking for. Do you want the long, drawn out version, or a general answer," he looked at her to get confirmation that she wanted to hear the long version before continuing, "We were seventeen when I decided to take James to this underground club in a little out-of-the-way back street in London. I was really into the muggle rock scene back then, you know, and I'd found this crazy girl who took me under her wing and showed me the place. I'd gone there a lot more (even after I'd dumped her) to hear the bands play –and to rub up against girls with the excuse of it being a mosh pit. So anyway, I took James there because he wanted to know where I disappeared to every weekend. We got there and ended up getting separated because I decided to crowd surf and James decided he would rather stay on the ground," Alex interrupted him as she laughed at the mental image, and Sirius grinned at her, "There were cross-dressing hippopotamuses doing a waltz involved in my deciding that. I was completely strung out. Moving on...when I was trying to find James again I figured that he would be on the sidelines pressing up against the wall somewhere waiting for me to find him so we could leave. I was fighting my way through the crowd, and ended up knocking over a girl. I couldn't just leave her to get trampled, so I helped her up and drug her out of the crowd with me to make sure she was alright. We ended up talking about a lot more than just my apology and her assuring me that she was fine. She was a drifter. She'd been all over the world just visiting all kinds of clubs and bars. Things progressed over the next couple of hours, and we ended up together in a bathroom – my house and her hotel were both too far away, I couldn't just apparate with her since she was a muggle, and I couldn't wait. James was mad as hell the next morning – I'd been too high and caught up in a pretty girl to remember him, so he'd found his own way home. I really didn't care too much about it, though, because I couldn't stop thinking about that girl. A couple of weeks later, I couldn't take it anymore and tracked her down. She was in New York City, so I popped over and met her outside her hotel room with a story about how I was visiting a friend of mine, and had caught a glimpse of her going into the building. She bought it, and ended up taking me around her favorite haunts."

Alex was too busy absorbing this little bit of the Sirius of the past to pay attention as they passed both First Avenue and Second Avenue. She was brought out of her reverie, however, when Sirius spoke again, "Here we are, Love: Bowery."

Alex looked up, and sure enough there was a green street sign with _Bowery_ printed across it. Sirius turned right onto the street, and Alex followed along with growing anticipation. Finally, after only a couple of blocks, he stopped and gestured in front of them. It was an old brick building with two rather small windows sticking out on either side of a door. It looked unimpressive and ordinary to her.

"What is it?" she asked warily.

"Country BlueGrass Blues and Other Music for Uplifting Gormandizers," he said, pointing out the awning over the door. It had the letters _CBGB_ large on top, and directly under them the smaller letters _OMFUG_.

"Yes, but what **is** it?" she turned to look at him expectantly.

Sirius smiled at her, "The virtual birthplace of punk, Love. It should just now be getting good since we're about an hour and a half later than opening time."

With that, he led her to the door. She didn't even have time to contemplate when he'd had the time to get American money without her noticing before she was ushered through the door and into what she thought might be a war zone. It was so loud from the band playing on the plywood stage at the back of the building that her ears would have hurt enough. Add to that the screams of people in front of the stage and the shouted out conversations of people that she didn't think she could even hear herself think.

She was proven wrong when Sirius's voice broke into her head, "How about a drink, Love?"

Alex nodded her assent since she knew that he couldn't hear her speak, and he led her over to the long bar. Neon signs for various muggle beers were hanging overhead to provide lighting. She looked around the entire room and noticed that the walls of the place were littered with flyers of what she assumed to be bands, and any bare spots were decorated with graffiti to advertise even more bands. The grungy atmosphere was like nothing she had ever seen.

She turned her attention back to Sirius as he finally managed to fight through the crowd to the bar. He shouted orders that she didn't understand at the bartender. A minute later, two glasses were shoved across the bar and into Sirius's hands. He handed one to her, and replaced his arm around her waist as he led them to a raised platform that contained tables. He managed to get one that was just being vacated – no doubt due to some sort of mental persuasion on his part.

Alex had to admit that the place grew on her as time went on. She watched the band on stage and the mass of jumping and swaying people in front of them with interest. Eventually, Sirius felt the need to have another drink. They vacated their table, and Sirius managed to find an empty seat at the end of the bar. Alex sat down as Sirius moved down a way to where an extremely busy bartender was working.

Despite the fact that it was the first time Sirius had been out of arm's reach from her, Alex felt no anxiousness at all. She turned around in her seat to continue watching the performance on stage. The music had her full attention, and she didn't hear a voice addressing her until she felt the tap on her shoulder. She spun her chair around to face the person, and found it to be a man. He looked to be in his mid-twenties with styled blonde hair, blue eyes, and a nice tan.

"Can I buy you a drink?" the question was innocent enough, but the way he was leering at her made Alex's red flags go up.

"No, I've already got one coming," she dismissed his proposal and began to turn her head back in the direction of the stage.

A few seconds later, another tap on her shoulder caused her to focus her attention back on the man. "I think you can dump whatever loser offered to buy you a drink before and take me up on my offer," he was staring at her in a way that demanded she obey him.

Despite the feeling of panic that was beginning to well up inside her, Alex refused to call on Sirius for help in such a simple matter when the whole night was supposed to be about her regaining her own strength. She sneered at the man, "Do you think so highly of yourself that you think women aren't allowed to turn you down? You might be a pretty boy, but you aren't _that_ pretty."

"Well, you aren't so pretty that you can afford to turn me down," the man rebutted angrily. The lustful look in his eyes gave his real thoughts away, and Alex just raised an eyebrow at him (a habit picked up via Sirius) as she turned away from him.

Her mind reading, although not as good as say Sirius's or Dumbledore's, was apt enough to pick up on the fury that welled up from the man beside her. She didn't have time to register what was happening before a hand gripped her arm with painful force and jerked her up out of her seat. She was being dragged to the door before she realized exactly what the man had done. Although she had the strength to get away if she cared to use it, she found her mind completely blank of anything but panic and memories. All of her training completely flew out the proverbial window in the face of her plight.

The cool New York air hit the sizeable amount of her exposed skin as they passed through the doorway. She was trapped between the man and the wall as she stared at him, "What..?"

She was cut off by the man's angry voice, "You can't just turn me down! I was trying to be nice and buy you a drink first..."

The man was, in turn, cut off, but not by a voice as Alex had been. A fist flew out of no where and connected with the side of his face. The man flew to the ground, landing with a thud and a grunt of pain.

Alex barely had time to look at Sirius's enraged face before he was upon the man, who had managed to stand back up. He spoke with furious intent, "I think you need to be taught some manners. No means no. Especially when it's **my** girl you're talking to."

"Hey, man, I didn't know," he held up his hands as if it would stop the furious man in front of him from doing anything further, "She looked single to me. Sitting at the bar and flirting with everyone who looked at her..."

Alex, who had by this time snapped who of her daze, could literally feel the blood rushing through her veins as she became angrier and angrier. "I was **not** flirting with **anyone**!" she snapped.

Both men turned to look at her as if they had forgotten that she was even present for their argument. The man glared at her, "Yes, you were!"

Alex didn't think. Her anger burst out from her control and her power went along with it. A blast of energy hit the man before she even knew that she had sent it at him. "I was **not**!" she exclaimed as the man hit the ground once more.

Sirius stared at her in surprise from her outburst. Their gazes locked for a few seconds, before both of them realized at the same time that the man had made no move to get up. Alex watched mutely as Sirius nudged the man with his toe. As the man's head rolled to the side, they both caught sight of his opened, unseeing eyes. Alex's mouth opened in a reflexive scream, but before it could leave her throat Sirius was by her side. He clamped his hand over her mouth so that no sound could emerge from her.

"Don't panic, Love. Come on, we have to get out of here," he removed his hand carefully from her mouth, as if he suspected he might have to replace it the second she was free to make noise.

The streets weren't as crowded as one might imagine they would be, and only a few people had stopped to watch the scene unfolding between the three young people. Sirius sent a powerful memory charm at the group of onlookers. While they were all still reeling and trying to figure out what was going on, he apparated them away.

They had barely hit the ground when he moved them again. This time she could tell the difference that meant he was teleporting them instead of apparating them. Even in her panic ridden mind, she gave thought to how clever he was under pressure. She surely would have just teleported them straight to their hotel room. He, however, had the presence of mind to apparate them to one location because apparation could be traced. They wouldn't think it was Sirius because his favorite form of traveling was teleportation, so they would most likely rule him out soon enough and search the area around the location for some other hiding fugitive. Of course, Sirius had teleported them away from that place, and teleporting couldn't be traced so they would never find them in any event even if the apparation didn't throw them off of Sirius.

As soon as they were back in the hotel room, Alex collapsed into a chair. Sirius knelt down in front of her, and she looked into his worried eyes for a moment before she threw herself onto him. She wrapped her arms around his neck in a death grip and buried her face in his shoulder, "Do you hate me?"

She felt him tense in surprise, "Why would I hate you?"

"I'm a killer," she said it simply.

His laugh reverberated throughout the small room, "You're not a killer, Love. _I'm_ a killer. You didn't even mean to."

"I killed him," she leaned back to look at Sirius.

He considered her for a few moments before he spoke, "You don't seem all that upset."

Alex knew that she should be sorry. She knew that she should feel horrible and dirty and disgusted with herself. The feelings just wouldn't come. She shrugged as she looked at him, "I told you that life doesn't hold the same meaning for me as it should. I know that I should feel remorse. I know that it was wrong. I just can't make myself be sorry."

"I guess knowing for your entire life that you're going to live forever has that kind of effect on you," he said gently.

Alex sighed in relief at his acceptance of her. Anyone else would surely have been disgusted with her and thought her a monster for not feeling anything at a death she had caused. Of course, she really should have known that Sirius Black was not _anyone_. He accepted her feelings in stride, and now that she was thinking about it, Alex couldn't exactly say that Sirius had ever felt bad for killing someone that she knew of. The entire experience had just reiterated the fact that they could only depend on each other.

--------------------

Life went on as usual for another few years. Both the Ministry and Dumbledore seemed to have completely lost track of them. After the first two years with no sign of Sirius Black, they gradually moved on to targeting other death eaters more and more. Sirius's name hardly ever showed up in the news anymore. Life was comfortable and exciting. They drifted from town to town. They had been everywhere from Florida to Japan, and everything in between. They were currently in Venice, and were both resting from vigorous sightseeing the day before. Well, Alex was resting. Well...she was _trying_ to rest.

She ignored the sounds coming from the extra bedroom of their hotel room as best as she could. She was doing an admirable job of it, too. Sirius hadn't seen nor heard anything of her no matter how much noise he made. Pushing Alex out of his thoughts for the moment, he concentrated hard on the targets in front of him. With a deep breath, he sent the curse at them.

The resulting explosion had Alex stomping into the room, "What the hell is wrong with you! I'm trying to sleep!"

"It worked!" Sirius ignored her anger and gestured wildly at the targets. There was nothing left of them except for various pieces lying where they had once been.

"Thank Merlin!" Alex exclaimed, "I've been getting really tired of the experiments."

Sirius found that he really had to agree with her. He'd dedicated the enormous amount of free time he'd suddenly found himself with after leaving the wizarding world to creating new spells and potions. Some of the things he came up with were simple little things that the Marauders had always thought would be cool. Several prank items and candies with bad effects that would make Zonkos proud had resulted from Sirius's boredom.

His latest development wasn't anything innocent at all. Sirius had been keeping his ear to the ground to hear of what was going on in the wizarding world the entire time they were on the run. He was determined to go back eventually, and he didn't want to have no idea of the political and economic climate when they decided to do just that. The news that the public accepted that Voldemort was gone had sent Sirius into a laughing fit at the stupidity of the masses. The idea that someone so powerful and bent on immortality as the "Dark Lord" could be killed by a rebounding curse was absurd. If he thought a simple Killing Curse would end his life, he would have been too cowardly to have faced off against anyone in person, but he very often showed up at major battles to join in himself. Sirius knew that war was just around the corner. He had no doubt that Voldemort was weak and all but dead, but as soon as one of his followers worked up the balls to go after him he would regain strength. It was only a matter of time before it happened.

The knowledge that another war would probably occur made Sirius really think about what he wanted. It had taken him a long time of contemplation before he came to the decision that he would join in another war against Voldemort. He would **never** join Dumbledore or his lackeys, but he would fight nonetheless. With that decision came the idea to create his very own secret weapon. He'd been toying with the prospect of what curse Wormtail had used to blow up the street ever since it had happened, but even his great-grandfather's book had contained no such curse. The idea of real battles on the horizon made him devote his full attention to finding out what it was.

He hadn't overheard Pettigrew's muttered words on the street that day. Sirius knew, however, that whatever it was wasn't meant to do the damage that it had done because there was no such curse. It was probably meant to do nothing more than blow up the pavement below him so that he could slip into the sewers and pin Sirius with his own death, therefore making Sirius look guilty of everything. That only left one conclusion: that Peter's emotions had been running so high and that he was so scared that he had stuttered (as he was prone to doing when nervous). Botching up the pronunciation of an incantation could sometimes lead to very powerful reactions, especially when high emotions were behind the magic.

Sirius had used the "all-knowing book" (as Alex had coined it) to look up every single spell that could have possibly been used in any way to blow up the street. He had found several dozen candidates. He had then proceeded to mispronounce them in any way possible trying to get the same reaction that Wormtail's spell had brought about. He had started with the spells and curses that were considered dark by many, since he figured one of Pettigrew's death eater buddies might have helped him plan out the entire event. After spending several weeks just on five spells, he had finally had a revelation: despite everything, he knew the personality of Peter Pettigrew better than anyone alive (except for possibly Remus). Wormtail wouldn't have cared if it was a dark spell or a light spell. He would have used something simple!

Wormtail had never had confidence in his abilities. Although all three of his friends saw potential in him – he _did_ pull off becoming an animagus – he always had such low self-esteem that he messed up almost everything he did. He would have been too afraid of messing up and getting either killed by Sirius or arrested by the Ministry to have used something complicated or hard to remember and risk messing up. He probably used the simplest incantation he could find!

Sirius had thought of that while lying in bed staring at the ceiling in the middle of the night, and he had immediately jumped out of bed and rushed to the list of spells and curses he had compiled. None of the incantations had one syllable, and only seven of them had as few as two syllables. Out of those seven, only three of them did not require complex wand movement (or hand movement if you're _that_ good). Sirius had concentrated on those three spells for weeks. He had started out with pronouncing them wrong in every way he could think of, but to no avail. He then decided that maybe it hadn't been a mispronunciation, after all, but a messed up wand movement. He had then tried out every way he could possibly screw up with the movement, but again nothing worked.

After ruling out both mispronunciation and faulty wand movement, he had finally come to the conclusion that it was a bit of both. It was only his second day of testing out his latest theory before Sirius had found the answer. He had recreated the curse that Wormtail had used to blow up the street and kill twelve people. Sirius, of course, had no use for blowing up the ground he was standing on in the middle of a battle. That meant that the next step in the process was tweaking the curse to have it just blow up the people. That had only taken a few days to work out, but the hardest part was still to come.

Learning how to control newly developed spells is, perhaps, the hardest part of creating them. Sirius didn't want to blow up any Order members or aurors during a battle (unless they happened to be after him). He might not like either one – in fact, he **hated** both groups with a fiery passion – but that didn't mean that he wanted to go off killing people who helped with taking out death eaters. He had been working for nine days to find a way to control his new curse. What he was so excited about after this particular explosion was that he had finally managed it. All of his black targets were reduced to practically nothing, while all of his white targets were left perfectly unharmed.

Alex knew how hard he had worked on his project. How could she not know when he had been devoting so much to it? She smiled at his boyish enthusiasm and wrapped her arms around him, "Congratulations, Sirius. The death eaters won't know what's hit them."

"Yes, I know!" he was practically bouncing of the walls with excitement, "Can you just imagine the battles..."

He was cut off by a hard kiss. Words were forgotten, and he joined in wholeheartedly. Alex finally pulled back, "Come to bed."

Sirius suddenly felt bad as he realized that he had been neglecting her. Not in a sexual way, of course. Like Sirius Black would honestly let anything come between him and sex! He had, however, been more likely to be working on his project than to be talking or cuddling with Alex. Well, that was easily remedied. Sirius determined to make it up to her in every way possible as he scooped her up and carried her to bed as she requested.

--------------------

It didn't take very long for Alex to forgive Sirius. He could be very persuasive in his "apologies", and his excitement over finally accomplishing his goal of creating the new curse made it almost impossible to stay mad at him anyway. He was just too happy and enthusiastic about what he had managed to do.

It was now only a few days before Christmas, and Alex was looking forward to it. She had never celebrated Christmas in her earlier life, and her early Christmases with Sirius had all been ruined by one thing or another. They had only really successfully celebrated the holiday for the last three years, and she was hoping to make it four. It was not to be, however. A letter for Sirius ruined it all.

They had been sitting at the breakfast table when a rather frightening bird swooped in through the opened window and landed in front of Sirius on the table. The bird obediently held out its leg, which had a letter tied to it. There was no way this bird was an owl. It was a damned eagle as far as Alex was concerned. Granted, it was smaller than any eagle she had ever heard of, but it _looked_ like one and it had scared her! She was ready to jump to conclusions about it if she wanted to!

Sirius caught her look, and chuckled, "It's a falcon, Love. A peregrine falcon, to be specific."

"Why on earth is a falcon delivering mail to you?" she had calmed somewhat at Sirius's soft words, since she figured it was best not to scare the creature with frightening looking talons and a rather sharp looking beak to boot.

"It's the fastest bird in the world. Some German clocked it at like two hundred miles per hour, and as soon as my father found out he decided he had to have one. It's just used for delivering things that are extremely confidential. My father was paranoid, you know. He figured that even if someone managed to find this bird that it would be able to dive and get away without being intercepted. I've never tried to cast a curse at a target moving that fast, but I imagine it's quite impossible," Sirius stroked the bird's feathers gingerly as he spoke. He pulled his hand back to summon some steak out of the freezer, thaw it with a spell, and offer it to the bird as a treat.

Alex grimaced as the bird tore at the raw meat. She averted her gaze to eye the letter in Sirius's hand, "Are you going to open it?"

He looked on the verge of saying no, but then he sighed and started to break the seal instead. She watched him as his eyes scanned over the words and his face took on an expression of disbelief. He looked up at her after a few seconds and she saw the conflicting emotions in his eyes. Disbelief, relief, guilt, and joy were all warring for attention from him. Finally, he managed to blurt out, "My mother is dead."

--------------------

A/N: My friend commented that I've been putting in a lot of scenes where you _know_ they are going to bed, but I haven't put in any love scenes. Well, what can I say? This particular chapter was too cluttered and tedious already – in my opinion, I don't know how anyone else feels – for me to add in such a scene. Sorry.

Now, there are a few things that I guess I need to clarify. It's pretty much in order of appearance...

**CBGB (OMFUG)** – For those of you who have seriously never heard of it and really...what are you living under a rock (the stone kind, of course)? Or have you just never even realized there _was_ a rock scene (the music kind, of course)? The name I stated is the correct full name as far as I heard while I was there. It is, indeed, a bar in New York City that is considered the birthplace of punk. It was the virtual starting point of major fame for bands like the Ramones and the Talking Heads (and if you don't know who at least one of those are then you desperately need to come out from under your rock!) Nowadays, decades after the whole punk revolution thing, lots of different sub-genres of rock still play there. The description of its location was generally accurate, as was the description of the appearance – both inside and outside.

**Drug Use** – No, I am not endorsing or promoting drug use in any way! I did figure that as creative as teenagers are, young wizards and witches must have found some special uses for the greenhouses over the years! The Marauders were like the wild children of their generation, so I figured some experimenting going on isn't completely out of the question. That doesn't mean I think it is okay, it's just in here to show the wild and rebellious side of Sirius as manifested in his earlier days. The comment last chapter about how he needed some sort of release was just there to help further set up his reaction to his mother's death, and that his release happened to be in the form of abusing magical plants isn't so farfetched for a teenager as one might like to believe. I mean, in the beginning of this story his release was throwing himself into dangerous battles and killing people...I'd think Dumbledore would be less likely to catch on to drug use while Sirius was a student...

**The Curse** – About mispronunciation or faulty wand movement causing bad reactions: think of the scene in SS when they were trying to levitate feathers and one of them blew up. Hermione then went on to correct their pronunciation...Other than that, I thought I explained it pretty well in the actual chapter, so I don't have much to add right now except for a request. As of now I don't have a name for the new curse. I don't know even a tiny little speck of Latin. Coincidentally, that is why I didn't bother to describe the actual pronunciation and mispronunciation of anything even though it might have been somewhat humorous if put into the right context. If anyone who knows Latin would like to study the description of the curse and come up with a suitable name then drop me a clue. I barely have time to write the story in the first place, much less to research Latin for a name. Unless someone comes forward with one it'll be more like "Sirius cast his curse" than "Sirius muttered – insert name here –".

**The Bird** – It is true that the peregrine falcon is regarded as the fastest bird in the world. I couldn't find a date anywhere, but according to several sources it was a German experiment that confirmed this. According to _all_sources I looked at, the bird reached 270 km/h or 168 mph in a dive at an angle of 30 degrees. It is also reported that it reached 350 km/h or 217 mph in a dive at an angle of 45 degrees. Elusive little creature if you're trying to shoot it down with a spell and intercept its mail.


	25. The Last Black

A/N: I didn't write in any Alex in this chapter. You can take that to mean that she isn't doing anything other than moping around their hotel room being sad that Sirius isn't with her so near Christmas...Right now in the story it is a couple of days before Christmas, just for clarification.

Chapter Twenty-Five

The feelings of guilt Sirius had experienced after initially learning of his mother's death had disappeared completely. Why should he feel guilty over his treatment of her just because she had died? She was the one who pushed him to act the way he did, after all. In the place of those feelings, he now felt nothing but a huge boulder being lifted from his shoulders. He had told Alex that his family would never try to help the Ministry find him, which was true about almost all of his family. However, his mother was so maniacal in her hatred of him that she was a loose cannon, and it wouldn't be hard at all for her to convince some of his cousins, who all wanted his money, to help her if she decided to help the Ministry.

Despite some of the pressure being lifted off of him by his mother's death, he still wasn't happy. He was currently on a muggle airplane en route to London. He hadn't been on the plane for five minutes when he was sick of it. He didn't have the option of simply appearing in London, however. The news of the death of Walburga Black was sure to have reached the Ministry – the death of any pureblood was known by the Ministry – and they would be looking for Sirius. He had read something in the _Daily Prophet_ about how he had left home at sixteen (true, of course), but how the reason he gave his friends and acquaintances of having a falling with his parents was untrue. He had apparently truly left home in order to be trained by Voldemort. The newspaper had conveniently left out the part about his staying all summer with the Potters right after he left home. In any event, the Ministry probably thought that he had genuinely liked his mother, and they would be looking for him to make an appearance. Since he was supposed to be the right hand of Voldemort, anyone arriving by means of muggle transportation wouldn't be looked at twice since no one with that kind of reputation would be caught dead associating with anything muggle related.

Sirius couldn't have cared less about anything to do with his mother's death, and he certainly never would have even thought of coming to London if he had a choice in the matter. He didn't have a choice, however. He never even would have known about his mother's death if it hadn't been for the letter he had received from Gringotts. The letter had served the express purpose of summoning him to the Diagon Alley branch of the bank to settle his mother's affairs. So, here he was, in a muggle airplane, heading to London to talk about his mother even though he would rather be eating cake or something to celebrate the freedom that her death had given him.

Alex hadn't been able to come. After the rather unfortunate events of New York City some two (give or take a little) years ago, she hadn't been able to control herself around other people. She could function perfectly fine in a crowd, of course, but as soon as someone made her mad they were dead. Sirius had the theory that after everything she had suffered at the hands of other people, that her magic was just protecting her automatically from any further hurt. She was like an animal that had spent its entire life being beaten by its owners. Such a creature couldn't be trusted not to flip out around other humans since it would react automatically with fear and distrust. Sure, he personally made her mad on a regular basis since he was self-admittedly nothing but a clueless guy where she was concerned, but he had earned her trust. He figured that if anyone else was able to earn her trust before she killed them that she probably wouldn't react the same to them as to other people even if she was furious, but there weren't exactly willing volunteers for testing out such a theory.

He missed her. It had been years since they were separated for longer than a couple of hours at a time, and he really didn't know what to do with himself. To make matters worse, he was seated next to the most flirtatious, airheaded, bubbly, talkative girl in the world. She had done nothing but gush at him from the moment he sat down. He thought that he had handled her comments and questions about his appearance rather well considering the strain he was under. He was currently trying his best to ignore her. He hadn't even commented when she had leaned over him and pressed her chest into his with her hand resting on his upper thigh with the excuse of wanting to look out the window. That was a load of bullshit since there was nothing but the ocean to see. He didn't want to cause a scene when the last thing he needed was to draw attention to himself. She was making it progressively more difficult the more she opened her mouth, and she almost _never_ closed it!

Her chatter about how he possessed amazing hair, which had resulted in a thirty minute narrative on hair care and how many men don't know the first thing about it, was interrupted by the pilot's announcement that they were approaching the airport. Sirius let out a sigh of relief as she stopped talking long enough to buckle her seatbelt and make sure that her items were safely put away for the landing.

His relief was short-lived, unfortunately, when she turned back to face him, "So you aren't married?"

"No," he answered her in a clipped tone while he gritted his teeth in an effort not to hex her.

"I didn't think so. I've noticed that you aren't wearing a wedding band. Of course, I had to ask since so many men take them off every chance they get," Sirius was on the verge of asking exactly how many men she had been married to in order to obtain this information when she let out a gasp, "Oh my God! That's amazing! Where did you get it!"

Sirius yanked his right hand out of the girl's grasp where she had been fingering his signet ring. "Family crest," he answered her in as few words as possible.

"Oh!" she cooed loudly, "Is your family rich?"

Sirius was really getting sick of the girl's tactless questioning. "No," he said. Really it wasn't a big lie since his family wasn't exactly rich. They had money, but he had the fortune and he hadn't let any of them get their hands on it. Besides, he didn't want the girl to start thinking about trying to get him to marry her or anything. He didn't have any proof that she would, but she seemed like a gold-digger if you asked him.

"Really? That's strange," she eyed him suspiciously, "I've never heard of a poor family being important enough to have a crest."

Their mostly one-sided conversation was interrupted by a gasp. They both turned to look at the person standing in the aisle beside them, and Sirius's eyes widened in recognition. The woman standing beside them was staring at Sirius in a mixture of shock and horror, and he was sure he had the same look plastered on his own face.

No words were spoken as the woman was ushered along by a flight attendant, "Excuse me, Miss, but you'll have to return to your seat. We're about to land and the seatbelt sign is on."

Sirius turned in his seat to try and see where the woman was seated, which turned out to be only a few rows behind him. The girl beside him whined loudly, "How rude! Just staring at you like that! Do you know her?"

"She's my cousin," he muttered offhandedly.

The rest of the flight was spent completely ignoring the girl to the point where she went on a rampage about how rude men were. Sirius really could have cared less what anyone thought of him at that point, since he was busy formulating a plan in his mind. He had to talk to his cousin before she left the airport. There was no way for him to tell what she would do if he let her get away. She might contact the Ministry immediately if he was going by the look of fear on her face. If she was afraid of him then she really thought that he had done what he was accused of.

Sirius was tense with anticipation as the plane skidded onto the runway. The girl sitting beside him – she'd honestly only told him her name once, and he hadn't been paying attention – had apparently decided to forgive him for ignoring her. She placed a hand on his arm and leaned in close to him, "What do you say I give you my phone number? We can meet up sometime."

Sirius was past the point of calm as the girl's breath against his cheek completely shredded his last nerve. He spun to face her as he threw her hand off of him and scowled at her, "I would rather take out a monkey in a tutu than go on a date with you. You seem the type to spread your legs with no questions in the name of fucking good looking men, but the ugliest and most disagreeable man on earth could find someone more worth his while to wake up to in the morning than _you_, so I think I'll pass."

The shocked expression on the girl's face was almost enough to make him laugh if he hadn't been so fed up. She was gaping at him, "Wha..."

He cut off her question with a glare, "Take your filthy eyes off of me." The girl stared at him for another few seconds before she abruptly spun around to stare off into the aisle.

Nothing eventful happened as the plane made it's way to the gate way too slowly in Sirius's opinion. The girl beside him continued to stare in any direction but his. He wouldn't have felt sorry for her even if he hadn't been under stress. He didn't think that he had been anywhere near too hard on her. She was just lucky that she didn't have tentacles growing out of her face as far as he was concerned.

As the passengers were finally given leave to stand up and exit the plane, the girl rushed away from him as quickly as she could. Sirius himself was in a hurry, and rushed to get off the plane as quickly as possible. He was on the receiving end of many glares as he shoved his way past people and out of the ramp. As soon as he was in the terminal he moved to one side of the gate so that he could see the people come out.

After a few minutes, the person he was looking for finally emerged. Unfortunately, she was on the other side of the wide line of people. Sirius fought his way back through the crowd to situate himself behind his cousin.

Finally, he got right behind her. With a deep breath, he grabbed her by the arm and swung her around. The people around them stopped to look as she let out a scream, and he was quick to cover up, "Andy! What a surprise to see you here! It's been ages since I've seen my favorite cousin!" Andromeda didn't seem capable of speaking, but both she and Sirius looked like Blacks, so his story was accepted and the onlookers went on their merry ways.

"You...you...but, you..." she seemed incapable of stringing together a coherent sentence.

Sirius looked to the brown-haired man beside his cousin. He was looking anxiously at his wife, obviously nervous and not very happy at all that she was being cornered by Sirius Black, but unable to stop it. Sirius noticed that he was struggling to keep a young girl behind him, obviously shielding her from him, but that the girl wasn't about to give in to the protection.

Sirius grinned at the girl as she finally succeeded in poking her head around her father's side, effectively knocking over two suitcases and almost tripping herself in the process. She grinned right back at him, which was a little surprising to Sirius, but he shook it off and turned back to Andromeda, "Don't make a scene. If I was going to hurt you do you really think I would have called all that attention to the fact that I was with you right before your death? How about we pop into that restaurant over there and have a little chat?" He indicated a cheap airport restaurant that only had a few occupants at one end.

Without waiting for permission, the little girl ran around her father and jumped on Sirius in an enormous hug. She was chattering before any of the adults had proper time to respond, "Don't mind Mum, Sirius. She thinks that you turned all evil on her. Says something about not being around enough after she got married to stop Bella from having her way with your mind. I told her that she was crazy, but she told me that I didn't know what I was talking about and that I didn't know her family. I asked her whose fault was that, but she bottled up and got all mad about it after that."

Nymphadora was already dragging him along beside her as she made her way to the restaurant he had pointed out earlier, and Sirius could only get out an, "Oh."

Before anyone else could speak, the girl suddenly stopped in her tracks and spun around to face him fully, "Look, Sirius, Professor McGonagall has been helping be with my powers." She proceeded to look around carefully and shield her face with her hair before she changed the shape of her nose into that of a pig and then back to normal in quick succession.

By the time they started back up on their journey, her parents had caught up with them and were hovering around trying to extricate her from Sirius's grasp. Sirius himself had little say in the matter of a little girl clutching at his hand. She didn't let go until they were all inside the restaurant and she had chosen a table. She let go of him as she slid into the booth, and Sirius looked around at her parents to make sure no one had drawn wands yet.

"I don't know what you're playing at..." Ted started angrily.

Sirius cut him off, "I'm not playing at anything, Tonks. I just want to talk to my cousin and see if she could really let herself believe that I'm evil is all."

"Sit next to me, Sirius," Nymphadora ignored the hostility between her parents and her cousin.

Sirius complied by taking the proffered seat, and soon enough her parents thought it best to just slide in on the other side of the table so as not to leave their daughter unguarded. Sirius looked across the table at his favorite cousin, "I didn't do it, you know."

"What else am I supposed to believe? They say that you did it! They put you in Azkaban for Merlin's sake! They don't do that without proof!" the woman hissed angrily.

"No, but they certainly do it without giving trials nowadays," Sirius stared at her passively, "If you believe everything you hear, then how do you explain all the utter bullshit they've been spreading about why I left home? **You're** the one who I went to first. **You're** the one who gave me the idea of staying with the Potters."

Andromeda didn't have anything to say to that, and her confusion was apparent on her face. Nymphadora spoke in triumph, "See, I _told_ you so! I told you that Cousin Sirius would never do all that stuff they said he did!"

Sirius smiled at her, "Well, it's good to know that I have one supporter, Nymphadora."

A frown passed over the girl's features, "_Don't_ call me that! I knew Mum was crazy even before she believed that you'd done it. What sane person would name their child such a thing! I guess you can call me what you've always called me. Even though I'm **not** a kid anymore! I'm thirteen, you know."

"Yeah, kid, thirteen is a _very_ mature age," Sirius indulged her sarcastically. He stood up abruptly as he eyed Andromeda coolly, "It was Pettigrew, if you care to know the truth. Frankly, I don't think I care whether or not you believe me anymore. I don't know why I even bothered. You were my favorite cousin, I always came to you before anyone else, and you believed that I'd murdered my _best friend_without a question? At least you have a lovely daughter."

He spun around and stalked off without waiting for a response from anyone at the table. He didn't think that the Tonks would go off informing the Ministry of his presence. He was hurt that his favorite cousin had believed such a thing about him. He would have to get in touch with Nymphadora again, that was for sure. She was a great kid, and he'd always liked her. She'd only been eight the last time he had seen her, but her ninth birthday was in the middle of October and he'd sent her a gift. Her mother must have loved that her daughter was receiving gifts from cousins who were arrested for mass murder and treason just weeks later.

As he stepped into a cab in front of the airport and gave the directions for Grimmauld Place, Sirius wondered if any of the other members of his family would be there. The Blacks were a strictly loyal family, but they weren't particularly caring. They were probably all comfortable in their own homes and would only bother to show up for the funeral instead of even giving off the appearance of caring to society. He supposed that Regulus might be there. He was a momma's boy if ever there was one, and was probably completely devastated that there was no one around to help him get his way anymore. Personally, Sirius was surprised that he hadn't been arrested yet, but four years of listening to the news hadn't given any mention of his name as a death eater.

He paid the cab driver and stepped out of the car onto the sidewalk without bothering to change his appearance. He knew that no Ministry personnel would be allowed inside the house. There were far too many dark artifacts for anyone in his family to allow that even if they had the authority to do so. They wouldn't be able to even break their way into the house, so Sirius would be as safe as possible for the duration of his stay in London.

He was surprised to find that his brother was no where to be found. In fact, the only living creature anywhere in the entire house was Kreacher, the insane house elf. He bowed and postured as he was expected to do for his master, but Sirius just sent him off to his cupboard with an impatient wave of his hand. It was going to be a miserable stay as far as he could tell.

--------------------

Gringotts was making Sirius especially nervous. He remembered that he hadn't given the goblins any instructions about whether or not they could tell anyone if he had business with them, just that they couldn't divulge information or allow entrance into his vaults. He assumed that the goblins had been given no choice but to tell the aurors that he was expected to conclude business with them. He knew that Ragnok, who was personally over his accounts, would never have betrayed him in any way. Not that the goblin particularly liked him – Sirius got the impression that he hated all wizards – but he assumed that all Blacks were the same and that it would cost him his life to divulge any information. Any other goblin, however, would tell the Ministry anything it wanted to know as long as no personal harm would come to itself.

Sirius had, of course, plucked hair from a random unsuspecting muggle on the street and used it in a Polyjuice Potion to disguise himself. He did his best to act normally, and stood about inconspicuously in line like the dozens of other people in the bank. Despite his completely natural appearance, he was fidgeting horribly on the inside. He had been in the auror world long enough to be able to spot the less-than-inconspicuous aurors hanging around the bank. They were dressed in their everyday clothes and acting normal for the most part, but Sirius could spot them from a mile away. He had seen the first one sitting outside at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor keeping an eye on the front steps of Gringotts as if they honestly expected Sirius Black to just waltz up to the front door as himself. There were several more walking the streets in front of the bank to go along with the first one. It was laughable really. The six aurors – who, to Sirius at least, were obviously hit wizards – hovering about the lobby were doing nothing to affect his humor, however.

He glanced at the elaborate clock on the wall, and saw that he only had twelve more minutes until his polyjuice potion wore off. He couldn't take it again since someone tossing back refreshment out of a personal flask in the middle of Gringotts was a bit too conspicuous. He turned back to the line in front of him. There were still two people in front of him: one speaking with the goblin behind the counter, and one waiting to go next. Sirius sighed and hoped that they didn't have any particularly accomplished Legilimens in the room as he turned his attention to the old woman in front of him.

He was very careful not to let the old woman detect the presence of someone else in her mind. He didn't probe for any thoughts and instead simply read the ones she was currently thinking about so that she wouldn't get suspicious of foreign thoughts suddenly popping into her head. He glanced back to the clock, which now showed nine minutes left until he was back to his normal appearance. Finally, the woman thought about something that was useful to him.

Sirius concentrated everything he had on sending the thought of being late for her grandson's birthday party into the woman's mind. The woman began to fidget a bit and Sirius backed off, knowing that he had accomplished his task. The woman glanced at the clock and then back to the man in front of her. A few seconds later she glanced at the clock and sighed. Sirius's plan might not have worked if it weren't for the fortunate occurrence of a slight argument breaking out between the man at the counter and the goblin tending to him. The woman took one more glance at the clock, heaved another sigh, and stalked off, effectively leaving Sirius as the next person in line.

Sirius stepped forward anxiously to fill the space that the old witch had just occupied. Five minutes and counting. He tried not to appear nervous as he watched the seconds hand counting down on the clock, but inside he was a wreck. He was on the verge of shoving the man out of his way when the clock showed that he had three minutes left. When he had two minutes and forty-five seconds left the man finally stepped away from the counter.

Sirius practically threw his key at the goblin. "I swear if you don't put me through immediately I'll have your head," he hissed just loud enough for the two of them to hear.

"Of course, Master Bl..." the goblin obviously thought better of finishing this usage of Sirius's surname as the man in question glared at him. The goblin cleared his throat nervously before continuing, "Ragnok left specific instructions for your arrival. You're to be shown to a private room on the third floor."

Sirius glanced at the clock again as he waited for the goblin to get a move on. He had one minute and fifty-two seconds. He waited a few seconds further with no response from the goblin. Obviously he was new on the job and had no clue what to do. Sirius decided to help him along a bit. He growled out, "You have ten seconds to have me on my way to this room or I swear you'll never work here again."

The goblin stared at him in shock for six seconds out of his allotted ten before he seemed able to form a thought. He spoke quickly, "Through that door and up the elevator. Someone will be waiting for you at the top."

Sirius snatched back his key and made for the indicated door as quickly as he could without drawing attention to himself. When he reached the door he immediately looked around for a knob, but saw none. It took him a few seconds of panic before he caught sight of the keyhole in the wall beside the door. He quickly placed his key in the space and jiggled it experimentally. After a few seconds, it gave way and twisted to the left. Sirius waited in suspense for a few long seconds before the door swung out towards him. He side stepped quickly to avoid being knocked over by it.

He ripped his key out of the keyhole and stepped into the elevator. His relief was short-lived when he saw another keyhole. He fumbled to shove his key into place, finally succeeding with a sigh of relief as the door slammed shut. He had done it with seventeen seconds to spare. All that he could hope now was that there weren't aurors waiting for him when the door opened again.

His fears proved to be unfounded when the door swung open to reveal a single goblin sitting behind a desk in the middle of a good-sized lobby. He retrieved his key and walked to stand in front of the desk even as he felt the potion wearing off.

The goblin sitting behind the desk was staring at him in wonder. Finally, Sirius broke the silence, "I'm to be shown to a private room."

The obvious order was enough to snap the goblin out of his trance. He held out his hand, "Key, please." Sirius was getting sick of messing with the damn key, but handed it over nonetheless. The goblin examined the family crest embossed on the key for a few seconds before he handed it back with a nod. He stood abruptly, "Allow me to escort you, Master Black."

Sirius was hard-pressed not to sigh in relief at finally getting somewhere. He was led down a wide corridor to the left of the lobby, and then down a smaller hallway that branched off to the right. Finally, the goblin opened a door and stood back to allow Sirius to enter. He did so quickly, but stopped just inside the room to look around. It was a lavish parlor with an elegant sofa and two high-backed chairs situated around a coffee table complete with tea set and platter of hors d'oeuvres. It in no way looked to be part of a bank.

"What exactly am I supposed to do in here?" he asked the goblin behind him.

"Ragnok will be along in a few minutes. I'm to go and inform him of your arrival as soon as I have you settled in here. Is there anything you need, Master Black?" the goblin hovered outside the door.

Sirius waved a hand in dismissal, "No, I just want to get out of here. Go and get Ragnok."

The goblin left immediately, shutting the door behind him. Sirius was left alone to pour himself a drink and munch on the offered food as he waited. He couldn't help but wonder what the meeting was about. Settling his mother's affairs was never something that he anticipated having to do. He assumed that she would have stated somewhere in her will that there was no way her oldest son was allowed anywhere near her affairs.

He wasn't left wondering long before an obviously old goblin stepped through the door and addressed him, "Master Black. I assume that you'll be wanting to get right down to business?"

"Yes, actually, I would like to know what the hell this is all about," Sirius's foul mood over his close call in the lobby hadn't abated yet.

"I hope the letter wasn't too uninformative. I had an underling write it as I was busy actually tending to your vaults. My apologies, Master Black, if you weren't informed of the need to settle the late Mrs. Black's affairs," the goblin's tone was less than respectful and sorry, but Sirius let it slide since it would be a real pain in his ass to pick a replacement for him.

Instead, he settled for accepting the ledger the goblin offered him. A brief look at it was enough for him to recognize his mother's financial report. He glanced back at the goblin, "She actually left this for me to handle?"

"Well, no, Master Black, but you were the only one possible," Ragnok stared at him incredulously, "She didn't indicate anyone in her will other than one Mr. Regulus Black. As it is impossible for that gentleman to fulfill these duties it falls to you as both her only remaining child and as the head of your household."

Sirius was still completely lost, and he sighed in defeat of the fact that he was probably going to succeed in making a fool of himself in front of the goblin. Nonetheless, he voiced the question, "Why couldn't my brother fulfill these duties?"

The look of shock on the goblin's face was more than apparent. Sirius had never seen a shocked goblin before, but the one in front of him now was unmistakable. Finally, Ragnok exclaimed, "Because he's dead, of course!"

"What!" it was Sirius's turn to be shocked. He had never considered that as a possibility. When Regulus's name never showed up in the arrest reports he had just assumed that he had somehow managed to either avoid capture or evade the accusations altogether. The thought that his brother might simply be dead was not one that had entered his mind at all. "When did this happen?" he found himself asking.

The goblin had obviously just filled in the gaps about Sirius's lack of communication with his family, and he no longer looked shocked. He looked contemplative for a moment before he answered, "Years ago. There was no need to contact you on behalf of the bank because he had his affairs settled and you weren't involved."

Sirius was kind of still reeling from the news of him being the last Black in the main line. It took him a few seconds to respond when the goblin suggested that they get on with their business, but finally he turned back to the ledger. The business was concluded fairly quickly even though he was kind of in a daze. He simply had all of his mother's money and valuable possessions transferred to the Black family vault, and left her house as it was since he wasn't planning on using it anyways. He seriously contemplated having Kreacher given to someone else, but in the end he decided that the little rat could just stay in Grimmauld Place. He was probably busy making out with his mother's portrait and sleeping in her bed anyways, so he should stay where he was happy.

As he was getting ready to leave, Sirius thought of something else, "Would you have me a large bag full of galleons and one of muggle money brought up, Ragnok?"

"From which vault?" the goblin was already moving towards the door. The goblin was referring to the three vaults in Sirius's possession: the Black family vault, his own personal vault, and a second personal vault where he kept the spoils from his assassinations.

"My primary personal vault," he answered after quick contemplation.

The goblin opened the door and shouted orders to another goblin who was standing in the hallway. The second goblin quickly scurried away as Ragnok turned back to Sirius, "Do you need anything else, Master Black?"

"No, Ragnok. Thank you for handling this situation as admirably as you did," Sirius was truly grateful that the goblin had planned everything as he had. He had stood a real chance of being found out if it weren't for the goblin's forethought.

The goblin stared hard at him before replying, "It wouldn't do to have all of that money pulled out of the bank. We generally try to cooperate with the Ministry as least as we possibly can in the first place after they put up that horrible statue." Sirius almost grinned at the reference to the statue in which a goblin, house elf, and centaur were basically worshiping a witch and wizard. James and he had spent many a good time laughing about how stuck up and snobbish wizards were to even think of putting up such a thing. The goblin sniffed as if he had suddenly realized that he had been conversing with a wizard, and started to close the door with one last statement, "Your money will be at the front desk on this floor."

As soon as Ragnok was gone, Sirius reached into his robes and pulled out a small flask. With a look of utter distaste, he threw his head back and downed the contents. In seconds he was back in his disguise. It wouldn't do for the hit wizards to witness someone enter the door and never come back, so he had decided to ride the elevator back down and walk out the front door. He had originally planned to just take his second dose of the potion while he was in the complete and utter safety of his vault, but really he much preferred the room so he wasn't going to complain about the change in plans.

After picking up his money at the desk, Sirius reentered the elevator and began his descent. All in all, his trip to Gringotts had turned out well.

-------------------

Sirius was sitting in a bar in Knockturn Alley with his hair and cloak both doing their parts in covering his face. Anywhere else he would have drawn attention to himself as he sat in the far corner of the bar drinking potent (and dubiously legal) drinks, but in Knockturn Alley it was not at all uncommon for people to mask their appearance. As a result, he hadn't been bothered at all and he wasn't worried about being interrupted even though his potion had worn off quite some time ago. He wasn't too worried about being caught anyway, since he could just teleport himself away if anything happened and no one would report that he had been there unless they were willing to give it up to the world that they had been there, too. Not many people were willing to admit that they had ever been to a place such as this.

Sirius no more liked the atmosphere or the reputation of the bar than he liked the atmosphere and reputation of Grimmauld Place. However, he had gone way too long with nothing but the official news to go on, and he was sick of it. He needed to put his ear to the ground in the underworld. If anything was going to happen he would rather hear of it beforehand in a seedy bar than hear about it after the fact on the news. You got more useful information by eavesdropping on drunken dark wizards and their lackeys than you did from listening to reporters and politicians anyway. He had already learned of various plots and schemes: three plans to rob well off families, five creative ways to swindle the public for money, and two assassination attempts that he could tell from experience would never work out.

It was the third assassination plot of the evening that really drew his attention. A man, likewise covering his face with a cloak, had been sitting at a table rather close to him for some time now. Sirius had only paid the man any attention because he hadn't even ordered a single drink, and that was completely unusual. When a second man entered the bar and immediately headed for the sober man's table, Sirius immediately turned his full attention to their conversation.

"Everything is going well?" the newcomer whispered anxiously.

"Yes, everything is perfect," the original man answered back in a hushed tone, "They are on their way as we speak."

The newcomer turned around, and Sirius recognized Macnair as he spoke again, "You're sure this will work? Malfoy is so paranoid since the end of the war that I'm sure he put up more wards than the Blacks." Both the name Malfoy and the reference to his own family caught Sirius's interest as he drowned out everything but this one conversation.

"Malfoy is too cocky. He is an easy target compared to some of the ones left out there," the man with his face hidden answered, "The plan isn't even to go for him first. They're going for his family."

Macnair stared at his companion, "Why the family? My associates and myself wanted Malfoy out of the picture because he was gaining too much power. We didn't want an entire pureblooded family to get taken out!"

The other man wasn't effected at all by Macnair's reaction, "He has one heir. Take the heir and its bitch and what does he have left? There aren't any other witches that he would consider acceptable brides to take the place of that Black harpy. Not unless you count the _other_ Black harpy, but she's married...and in Azkaban to boot so he can't even have her as his mistress anymore." The fact that someone had referred to Narcissa as a bitch in the meaning that she was only good for breeding almost sailed right through Sirius's mind as he was too busy worrying over her being attacked.

"Why not just take out Malfoy and stop worrying about the others?" Macnair insisted.

The hooded man sighed in exasperation, "_Think_, you idiot! We kill his wife and kidnap his only son and we'll have him eating out of the palms of our hands to get his heir back. We'll still kill him, but only after we get what we can out of him. He might be able to clear a lot of names and make a lot of _charitable_ donations."

Macnair's eyes lit up as the concept finally penetrated his brain, "You're sure you can pull it off?"

"Who's going to stop us?" the other man cackled, "Malfoy is in France on business and his wife will do anything to save the boy if my sources are to be believed, and they are."

"I just don't think it'll be that easy. Even if you manage to get into Malfoy Manor without being detected first, I'm sure the boy is so heavily guarded that he can't even breathe without Malfoy knowing about it," Macnair continued to be wary.

The other man just cackled harder, "It's too late to stop now so quit making excuses. I suppose next you'll tell me that Sirius Black himself is guarding the entrance to his cousin's room!" Sirius knew that any death eater worth his shit knew that he wasn't _really_ the right hand of Voldemort. However, they hadn't forgotten the battles, personal attacks, and assassinations that Sirius had been involved with against them. He had spent years building up his reputation and becoming one of the most fearedpeople in the world to anyone on the other side, and if he hadn't been so furious and so frightened he would have been happy that his reputation was still holding up.

Sirius didn't stay long enough to listen to the rest of the conversation. If they wanted Sirius Black guarding his cousin's room then they were going to be in for one hell of a battle. Narcissa had helped him more than once, and it was high time he paid her back. He'd be damned if he let a bunch of desperate death eaters on the sly kill his cousin just because they were afraid of Lucius Malfoy.

--------------------

A/N: Now it is time for me to explain some of my nifty wizarding logic that seems to confuse so many of my friends when they read these chapters. I figured I'd continue being nice and explaining it to everyone beforehand so I don't have to risk having to answer questions later when my mind is firmly in the next chapter I'm writing.

Sirius took the muggle airplane because he knew that the Ministry wouldn't be looking for the right hand of Voldemort in a muggle airport, of course, but why did the Tonks family take one? Well, they have a teenage daughter who can't apparate. I'm sure not many places amongst the muggle world are connected to the floo network, and it would be a pain in the ass to travel a very long distance that way anyway, I would imagine. Just from reading about having to go through all the checkpoints and everything on the way to the Quidditch World Cup in GoF, I assume that getting authorized to use a portkey is pretty difficult. Flying a broom long distances is restricted, I'm sure. Muggles might see you, and it would be extremely uncomfortable anyway. Ted Tonks is a muggleborn, so I'm sure he knows all about muggle transportation. Why wouldn't he automatically think to use an airplane?

For those of you who didn't recognize the name, Ragnok is the goblin that Bill Weasley was trying to convince to support the Order in OotP. I supposed that if one goblin's support would be enough to have support from the entire race, which is what the Order's goal was, that Ragnok must be a very influential goblin. Since the wizarding bank seems to be the most influence that goblins have in the wizarding world, what better way to gain influence if you're a goblin that to be in charge of the highest security vaults and highest profile accounts like I'm sure most old pureblooded families – like the Blacks – have?

The fact that Sirius has a high security vault is pretty obvious to me. Dumbledore's vault, which contained the sorcerer's/philosopher's stone, was number 713. I figured that they didn't just randomly sprinkle specially enchanted vaults all throughout the bank since it would get very hard to keep an eye on all of them. They probably put them all in one very heavily guarded section of the underground. Since Sirius's vault is number 711 it just goes to reason that it's a high security vault, as well. The idea that most pureblooded families have vaults that are at least close to the high security section is reiterated by the fact that the Potter's vault is number 687, which is pretty close to the 700s that seem to be **very** high security.

I was asked when I explained that last part to someone if the vaultscouldn't just be separated by size, but I think that's incorrect. I read a really goodessay on the difference between muggle limitations and wizard limitations that pointed out something to me...when Harry was kind of surprised that the Ford Anglia expanded so that everything fit inside of it on the way to the train station in CoS, Molly Weasley thought it was completely normal. That did kind of indicate that if it _hadn't_ expanded she would have been very surprised. Another example is Moody's trunk in GoF. You can't tell me that a trunk just randomly had a dungeon built into it. Who would sell such a thing? Who would even think, "Hey, I need to buy this. I might need a dungeon one of these days!" It makes more sense that the different compartments of the trunk simply changed size to accommodate what was being put into them. Going by that logic, I would think that it would be **very** unlikely that the Gringotts vaults wouldn't accommodate things. I mean you don't want to have to change vaults every few years just because you came into a bit more money and you simply couldn't fit even _one _knut into your current vault.

Thatessay I spoke of was actually very interesting and very helpful to me years ago when I was first getting into Harry Potter. If you would like to read it the link is:

http/ www. essays/essay-magical-worldview .html

All credit for thepiece goes to the author, of course. Many thanks to Steve Vander Ark, just so I don't get harassed for not crediting him.


	26. Draco Malfoy's Broomstick Adventure

A/N: Let's hope that there aren't any enormous grammar and/or spelling mistakes in this chapter. I went on a serious writing spree and finished it up all at once and am rushing to post it without reading it through 50,000 times first. If you find any horrible, terrible mistakes that you absolutely, positively **cannot** deal with enough to read it then let me know and I'll go through and revise it before I post the next one.

Chapter Twenty-Six

The wards were already down when Sirius reached Malfoy Manor. It was obvious that whoever was actually doing the dirty work were death eaters. Their work could always be identified by its poor execution. They were used to inspiring fear with their infamous uniforms and then using brute force to destroy everything in their paths. When it came to a job that required actual skill and finesse they were hopeless. If it had been Sirius doing the job, he would have put the wards back up as soon as he had entered so that anyone who came to check on the breech wouldn't be able to find his entrance point. With everyone running around trying to figure out where the wards were breeched, it would have made it easy to reach his target with little or no interruption. Of course, given the circumstances he was very glad that these assassins were complete morons.

There weren't even any guards or lookouts. Sirius would have thought it funny as hell that they were so confident that they didn't think they needed lookouts. However, the fact that the lack of death eaters in sight meant that all of them were inside the manor made him quickly forget the humor and begin to worry. He warily kept his guard up as he rushed across the grounds. With the wards down there was nothing stopping the Malfoy's _pets_ from attacking him. He didn't particularly feel like wasting his time fighting an animal while his cousin was fighting for her life and that of her son's.

The enormous double doors of the manor were blown to pieces much the same was as the ones at Hogwarts had been during the battle so many years ago. Sirius made a mental note to figure out exactly what the death eaters had found that would blow through magically reinforced doors. He stopped short in the entranceway as he realized that he had absolutely no idea where Narcissa's or Draco's rooms were. Given the time of night, he figured that they would have been in their beds fast asleep when the attack began. Sirius glanced around hopelessly for a few seconds, which was enough time for him to reaffirm his original opinion that the death eaters were careless buffoons. Every door was firmly shut and the house was completely closed up for the night. It looked like they hadn't even bothered to check the other rooms for one of their targets before moving upstairs. For all they knew, Narcissa had been unable to sleep or Draco had decided to get into some mischief while his parents weren't watching him. No, the death eaters had just thundered right up the stairs without checking first.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Sirius strode into the apparation room of the manor. It was only opened to blood relations unless you had some token on you that the master of the house had given you to get past the wards, so Sirius wasn't at all worried about any other death eaters randomly showing up. The only reason he hadn't used it in the first place was because he didn't know whether or not it was being watched. He stopped right inside the door and apparated to the other side of the room. A few seconds later a house elf peaked warily around the corner of the door. The house elves knew whenever someone apparated into the house and also knew that anyone with the ability to do so must be a relation or a special guest, so they were always very prompt in showing up to service any new arrivals when they sensed the apparation.

The house elf recognized the innate magic that was around Sirius to identify him as master of his house, and it also must have taken one look at him and recognized him as a Black – house elves all seemed to have the uncanny ability to recognize the members of the oldest pureblood families. It squeaked in delight and rushed into the room, "You is being the mistress's family! You must be helping her!"

"Where is she?" Sirius ignored the house elf not addressing him formally like it was supposed to since he could tell that it was really worried for Narcissa. That and he really didn't give a rat's ass about such things, and _him_ not giving a **rat's** anything meant more than for most people.

The house elf was wringing its hands desperately, "I can't be saying!"

"Why the hell not!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Master is giving the order not to tell anyone where the family's private chambers is being!" the house elf explained pitifully, "I can't be disobeying Master!"

Sirius glared at the house elf, though he wasn't really mad at it so much as at the situation in general. However, being a master at word play, loopholes, and getting himself out of sticky situations, it only took a few seconds before he realized Malfoy's obvious mistake in giving the order. He caught the house elf's eyes, "Malfoy might have told you that you couldn't _tell_ anyone where their rooms are, but did he say anything about _showing_ people?"

"Oh, no!" the house elf exclaimed in obvious fright, "Master would be punishing Dobby!"

Sirius exploded, "**Do you want her to _die_! Show me where she is!**"

The house elf wrung its hands together for a few seconds in obvious indecision. Sirius was just about to throttle it and apparate again so that maybe a better one would appear next. He was stopped short when it finally started walking out of the room muttering, "Oh, Dobby must be punishing himself when this is being over. Dobby is being such a bad house elf. Master will be getting a better one when he finds out."

Sirius sighed in relief as the house elf – Dobby, apparently – rushed up the stairs. He followed right on its heels as they ascended four flights of steps and ran what must have been a mile's worth of corridors. Sirius could suddenly hear the sounds of battle, and he ran past the frightened, blubbering house elf as he followed the noise. He rounded the last corner at top speed, sliding on the slick marble and nearly colliding with a very offended portrait. He ignored the enraged shouts from the painting as a death eater flew out of an opened door a ways down the hall and hit the wall with a thud.

Without stopping to think, he rushed towards the door. He narrowly missed being knocked over by another death eater who came flying out of the room. It didn't deter him, however, and he rushed through the door without a second thought. The sight that greeted him wasn't what he had been expecting.

He had expected with all of his heart to see a little boy scared half to death cowering behind Narcissa as she threw spells left and right at the people trying to take her son. Well, the boy was certainly scared half to death, that much was obvious, but he wasn't cowering behind his mother. In fact, Narcissa was lying sprawled out on the floor with one leg and one arm both at unnatural angles and with blood pouring from a wound underneath her nightgown as well as from her head. She was unconscious as far as Sirius could tell, or at least she had _better_ be unconscious and not worse.

Draco was standing between his mother and the death eaters. He was obviously trying to protect her even though he was facing off with a group of fully grown wizards. Sirius watched in surprise as a death eater made to grab the boy, and was sent flying across the room before his hand came anywhere close. Another death eater cast a curse at the boy and was sent across the room in much the same way, coming very close to flying out the door and joining his comrades in the hall had the door been but another six inches to the left. The baby Malfoy had a shield up! The revelation came as a surprise to Sirius. That wasn't something that was taught until seventh year! Sure you had your shielding and deflecting charms, but actual protective barriers were a completely different matter.

He shook himself out of his stupor when another death eater came flying right at him. He jumped out of the way, narrowly missing being hit. The other death eaters in the room had all turned to watch their partner's flight, and had all caught sight of him. They all stared at each other for several seconds before Sirius broke the shock-induced silence with a very painful curse sent at the death eater nearest him. The remaining death eater reacted almost at once and began firing their own curses at him. He dodged and deflected a few, and was seriously gearing up for a nice fun skirmish when he happened to catch sight of his cousin again.

Draco had abandoned his position as protector when the death eaters' attention was drawn away from him, and was kneeling down beside his mother. His face was streaked with tears as he shook her and pitifully begged her to wake up. Sirius's attention was drawn to the now rather large pool of blood that had come from the injury on Narcissa's head, and he didn't notice the flash of green light coming his way until it was too late to dodge it.

He slammed into the wall behind him with enough force to shatter his leg, which made first impact. He didn't really notice it, however, as pain far worse than any broken bone could ever bring fired throughout his entire being. He wasn't aware of anything around him, and he could really have cared less what was going on anymore. The pain was like being hit with a thousand bolts of lightening at the same time. Not that he'd ever personally experienced that, but he imagined the pain from such a thing couldn't be very much worse than the pain he was feeling from the killing curse. The thought crossed his mind that it would be much better to simply die than to go through what he was going through for the second time now.

What was actually only a few seconds seemed like a few hours to Sirius when the blinding pain finally subsided to a pronounced throbbing ache throughout his entire body. He heard a groan and realized that it was his own just as he heard the exclamations of disbelief coming from many death eaters. His purpose suddenly rushed back to him, and he opened his eyes to see another wand trained on him.

"You didn't do it right! Let me do it!" another green beam rushed right at his chest. He fought through the pain and rolled out of the way.

The pain from his long forgotten shattered leg caused him to scream even as he kept moving. He ended up sprawled out on his back, but another jet of green light quickly sent him rolling again despite his leg. He fought through the pain and called upon his supposedly brilliant mind to help him out. Mid-roll he came to a decision and didn't stop on his back again, but on his stomach instead. He caught himself and pushed his body upwards as he concentrated as hard as he could through the pain.

He finally managed to prop himself up with one hand while he used the other one to cast. His incantation was literally screamed out he was in so much pain, but he made sure to pronounce it correctly. He closed his eyes and collapsed back onto the ground as the necessary strength flowed out of him. The explosion was loud, and he had forgotten to get rid of Padfoot's senses beforehand. He did so as quickly as possible as soon as the noise began, but it wasn't fast enough to keep his hears from ringing or his head from pounding, which was _just_ what he needed to add to his already wonderful condition.

He lifted his head up to meet the horrified gray eyes of Draco. It took him a few seconds to realize that the substance the boy was covered in was blood. Well, blood and other less _liquidy_ substances. The boy's white-blonde hair was dripping and _stuff_ was splattered all over his face and soaked into his pajamas. Sirius looked around the room and realized that everything was covered in it. There was nothing identifiable as human left of the death eaters. There was a piece of one here, a piece of one there...and the blood and other better-left-unidentified substances covering everything.

The boy looked on the verge of screaming in terror, so Sirius ground out through the pain, "I'm sorry, Draco. I didn't have time to put up a shield to stop you from getting splattered."

"I'm covered in **guts**!" the boy exclaimed in disgust.

"I'll have you cleaned up in no time," Sirius fought to keep his voice calm as he was in the process of picking himself up. He had rolled over from his position on his stomach to lie on his back before gritting his teeth and sitting up. He looked over his leg quickly, and cast the necessary healing spells. It would take a good pain-killing potion and a trip to a healer to take care of such severe damage, but his hasty repair job would have to do for the moment.

He stood up slowly and put weight on his damaged leg gingerly. It hurt like hell, but it would work for now. He cast several cleaning charms on himself first, and then turned to Draco and Narcissa and did the same.

Draco was still frowning in disgust when Sirius knelt down beside him, "What did they hit her with?"

"I don't know," the boy turned newly moistened eyes back on his mother, "I heard shouts and then she came tearing in here. Those death eaters followed her and she was on the ground before I knew what was going on."

Sirius repaired the breaks to her arm and leg before carefully examining her head. He turned to look at Draco as he stopped talking, "Then what happened?"

The boy looked around the room once more as he answered, "They just kept coming and they were hurting her. I had to stop them. I thought she was de..." his eyes ripped back around to catch Sirius's in horror, "She isn't is she?"

"She's alive, Draco. You did good," he praised the boy. Not many wizards his age could have done anything at all, much less have managed a shield. Not that Sirius figured he had any idea what he had actually done to protect his mother.

With the knowledge that his mother was alright, Draco seemed to snap out of his horror-induced daze. He turned cold, calculating eyes on Sirius, "Who are you?"

Sirius smirked at the boy's defiance. He was just what you would expect from a Malfoy and a Black together. "Sirius," he provided his name.

"Mother talks about you a lot," Draco's whole demeanor softened somewhat, "but she says I'm not supposed to mention you to Father."

"I don't get along with your father," Sirius answered the unasked question that was in the boy's grey eyes and obviously on the tip of his tongue.

Sirius almost didn't catch the murmured statement because of the wringing still in his ears, "No one gets along with Lucius."

He chose to ignore the fact that a five year old was calling his father by his first name. Instead, he turned back to their present problem, "I'm going to take your mother to a healer."

"You aren't taking her anywhere!" Draco exclaimed. He could tell that the boy was more frightened than enraged.

Sirius placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm going to take her whether you like it or not, Draco, but I meant that you would be coming along, of course. I didn't intend to leave you here for the mentally deranged house elves to look after."

Draco, for his part, kept up his haughty attitude despite the fact that relief was evident in his eyes. He never said a word of acknowledgment to Sirius. He only turned back to Narcissa and stroked her hair as the man beside him cast various spells on all of them.

Sirius stood up slowly and tried to keep as much weight off of his injured leg as possible as he bent down to pick up his cousin. He managed to dislodge Draco's hand from Narcissa's hair as he lifted her gently and cradled her in his arms. Draco was keeping an eye on things with suspiciousness and cautiousness obvious in his gaze. Sirius led the way limping out of the room with the intention of going back to the apparation room downstairs. They didn't even make it to the first staircase, however, before voices and footsteps could be heard echoing up the stairwell from one of the lower floors.

Sirius turned and rushed back around the corner they had just turned with Draco right behind him. He kept his voice calm so he wouldn't frighten the boy as he asked, "Are there any other apparation points besides the one downstairs?"

Draco nodded emphatically, "Mother had one made on this floor because she said that she didn't want to trudge up four flights of stairs after a long day of shopping."

Sirius couldn't keep himself from grinning. That was just like Narcissa. Everything could be tied to shopping in some way or another if you just gave her a few minutes to think about it. He nodded to Draco, "Where is it?" He would have just told the boy to lead the way, but with Merlin only knew who else in the manor with them it wouldn't be safe.

"It's just at the end of the corridor," he pointed around the corner.

Sirius swore loudly at the information. They would have to walk right past the staircase and then be out in the opened the whole time they were in the hall. He couldn't even _run_ what with his leg. He couldn't take his chances with teleporting. He had only ever traveled that way with Alex, and it had taken him ages to get the landing right that way. He could only imagine how he might manage to hurt one or all of them if he tried it with an unconscious woman and a five year old in tow. That meant one thing: they would have to reach an apparation point.

He looked around trying to come up with some sort of inspiration, and his eyes alighted on a picture of a quidditch player – one of the Malfoys who had founded a professional team. He looked to Draco hopefully, "I don't suppose anyone keeps a broom in their room?"

"I'm getting one for Christmas," Draco informed him pridefully, "I'm not supposed to know about it. Mother hid all my presents in Father's rooms because she knows that I never go in there, but I made one of the house elves tell me where she hid everything and went to look for myself."

Sirius didn't want to know how exactly Draco had _made_ one of the house elves tell him such a thing. He shook his head ruefully. This boy reminded him a lot of himself as a kid. "Well, I guess we're going to pay a visit to Lucius's rooms then," he sneered in distaste.

Draco looked to be on the verge of protesting, but then his eyes lit up. Sirius watched as the boy seemed to realize that he was going to get to use his broom earlier than expected, and he took off down the corridor without a backwards glance. Sirius would have scolded him if he thought it would have had any effect at all, but he knew that it was useless. It wasn't as if he was going to run into anyone coming out of a bedroom anyway, so this particular hallway was safe.

Lucius Malfoy's rooms were very _Slytherin_. There was no other word for it. Everything was either green, silver, or black. It was like walking into enemy territory for Sirius (although technically the Sorting Hat thought very seriously about putting him into Slytherin until he had adamantly refused to be placed there). Of course, since the rooms did, indeed, belong to Lucius Malfoy, he really **was** walking into enemy territory. He stood right inside the door anxiously as he watched Draco rummage through a trunk in the corner. After a few seconds, he emerged and walked over to Sirius with his palm opened.

"You hold it until we need it," Sirius said, and Draco's hand immediately closed around the minimized broomstick and fell to his side.

Once they reached the corner again, Sirius transferred Narcissa to the arm on the side of his body with the good leg as he told Draco to hold out the broom. Draco did as he was told, and Sirius used his free hand to enlarge it. Draco stared at him with wide eyes, "You did that without a wand."

"We'll talk about it later. Right now we have to get out of here," he turned his attention back to the broom, "Level it out for me, will you?"

Draco stared at him with wide eyes for a moment before he realized that Sirius really was going to let him do it. He quickly placed the broom on the ground and with an excited, "Up!" it rose to meet his hand. He looked to Sirius for approval, and received a smile in return.

Sirius threw his leg over the broom and situated Narcissa more comfortably cradled to his chest with one arm as he grasped the handle with his free hand. He turned his head to look at the boy beside him, "Get on behind me and hold on tight. If you fall off I might not come back for you." Sirius would never really leave the boy behind, of course, but he wanted him to hold on as tight as he could so that he really wouldn't have a chance of falling off.

Sirius took the time to actually study the broom he was sitting on as Draco got situated behind him. It was top-of-the-line. A Nimbus 1700, which had just come out a few weeks before. There had been constant advertisements and reviews for it on the radio. Finally, Draco affirmed that he was ready, and Sirius took off without warning. They flew down the corridor as fast as he could push the broom to go. Draco's already firm grip tightened impossibly around his waist.

The corridor was extremely long...longer than a quidditch pitch as far as Sirius could tell. They were halfway to the staircase when aurors appeared from it. Sirius didn't slow up at all even when spells emerged from the aurors' wands and headed straight for them. The corridor was wide enough and tall enough to dodge all of the beams of light shooting at them. Sirius was using every bit of his flying ability to maneuver them at such a speed in such an enclosed space without wrecking. It had been years since he'd ridden a broomstick, but luckily for him it was like...well...like riding a broomstick! You just never forget! There's nothing else to compare it to!

Draco started yelling as they thundered right towards the aurors. Sirius lifted them up over the aurors' heads at the last possible second, kicking out with his feet and sending three of them to the floor. Then came the hard part. He was constantly going between looking straight ahead and looking over his shoulder for oncoming spells as they shot down the corridor at breakneck speed.

They were halfway down the remaining section of corridor before he yelled, "**Which door is it?**"

Draco was still in a state of disbelief, but he finally managed to shout out, "**It's the first door around the corner!**"

Corner? _Corner_! Sirius hadn't expected a damned corner! He turned to look over his shoulder and saw several different spells heading right for them. There was no way he was going to be able to land without Draco getting hit in the back. Well, there was nothing for it. They would have to take the corner. He and Draco were both yelling as they turned sharp. Sirius thought that they were going to make it without incident (amazingly) when a female shriek joined their own shouts. Narcissa flailed in his arms, and his balance was thrown off. They banked further towards the wall, and Sirius just managed to come to a screeching halt so that they were all three thrown forwards over the handle instead of hitting the wall. Sirius caught himself with his hands before he crushed his cousin by landing on top of her. Draco crashed into his back with a loud grunt of protest coming from both of them.

Sirius stared down into the confused and frightened eyes of Narcissa Black Malfoy. The fright turned to anger as she recognized him, "Sirius Black! What the **hell**?"

"Well I couldn't very well run headfirst into a group of aurors!" he exclaimed indignantly, "What ever happened to gratitude for saving you?"

Her response was cut off by the approaching footsteps running down the hall. Sirius scrambled up despite the pain in his leg and offered Narcissa a helping hand as Draco, who was already standing, clutched onto his robes. Sirius turned to face the door that Draco had said contained the apparation room, and as one they rushed through it. Sirius had never let go of Narcissa's hand, but he scrambled to grab Draco's. The boy refused to give up his position anchored in Sirius's robes, but instead offered up his other hand. Sirius apparated them away amidst yells coming from the aurors he had now evaded more times than anyone cared to remember.

-------------------

Sirius apparated into the hallway outside of his and Alex's hotel room. He normally would have apparated in a more secure and private location, but he didn't think that either he or Narcissa would be able to make it to the hotel room if he did that. What would it matter if he had to Obliviate a couple of muggles who happened to be in the hallway? Fortunately enough, there was no one in the hallway and they weren't slowed down by such a mundane task.

The adrenaline from waking up on a broomstick doing dangerous aerial maneuvers had quickly been used up, and Narcissa was leaning against him heavily. Draco refused to release his grip on Sirius's hand. Sirius sighed in resignation of the fact that he wasn't going to be able to dig in his robes for the room key. He mentally sent out a plea for help to Alex, and moments later the door flew open.

Alex shot him a shocked and confused look as she moved out of the way and held the door open for them to pass into the room. Sirius moved to deposit Narcissa on the couch, as she looked like she was just about to pass out. He looked her over and noticed that there was still a small amount of blood flowing out of her head wound. Draco clutched his hand tighter, and Sirius glanced over at him in time to see the look of panic on his face as his mother started to drift off again.

"Draco, I need to go get a healer," he said gently as he finally forced the issue and extricated his hand from the boy's death grip.

Draco didn't move from his mother's side as Sirius ushered Alex a few steps away from him. Alex noticed his limp, and eyed him critically, "Who are they and what happened to you?"

"My cousin, Narcissa, and her son, Draco...and I battled some death eaters to save them and then flew a racing broom at top speed down a corridor of their manor," he dead panned. At her incredulous look, he swooped down to kiss her quickly before pulling back, "I'll tell you later. I need to go get Madam Pomfrey."

"Madam Pomfrey's at Hogwarts!" Alex hissed in disbelief.

Sirius motioned for her to be quiet so as not to draw attention from the already panicking Draco. "I'll be fine. I promise you that. I know more secret passages in that castle than almost anyone," he leaned forward to kiss her reassuringly before he turned his attention back to their guests, "Keep Draco calm. I have a feeling that he might lose control of his magic and draw attention from all the muggles if he thinks something is seriously wrong with his mother."

"Come back to me," Alex leaned embraced him for a few seconds before she let go reluctantly and stepped away from him. With one last look into his eyes, she turned and walked towards the scared little boy hovering over his mother. Sirius began to steel himself for a real challenge as he headed out the door. Hogwarts was waiting.

-------------------

A/N: Don't worry, Alex will reappear fully in the chapters again and everything will be just like old times starting next chapter. Ah, the usual explanations...such fun...

Of course I chose Dobby as the house elf to help Sirius. I figured not very many of them go against their master's wishes, so I might as well use one that we already know isn't above doing just that.

As for the broomstick...the Nimbus 1700 was real. At least as far as anything in the HP universe is real anyway. I don't know the exact dates for its release, but I figured that 1985 was a good a time as any going by how many brooms the Nimbus line has...the Nimbus 1000 was definitely in 1967, so I thought the Nimbus 1001 in the mid-70s, the Nimbus 1500 in the late-70s to early 80s, the Nimbus 1700 in the mid-to-late-80s, and we know that the Nimbus 2000 was out by the time of Harry's first year, and the Nimbus 2001 in his second year. That's the complete line of Nimbus brooms as far as I know.


	27. Squeaky Doors and Creaky Stairs

A/N: This chapter was kind of hard to write. I wrote the first bit right away, but then the part at Hogwarts kept me stuck for a while...Hopefully it's turned out okay! I personally don't think that it is all that great, but it isn't really my opinion that matters so maybe you readers will like it.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Alex was quite taken with Draco. He had acted quite haughty and arrogant when she first tried to engage him in conversation. She wasn't put off, however, because he reminded her a lot of Sirius. They both hid behind the "pureblood persona" so that people wouldn't want to get close to them, but they were really worth knowing if you were able to get past that. It was only when Alex knelt down beside him and provided him with a blanket to tuck his mother in with that he finally softened towards her somewhat. Finally, Narcissa drifted off to sleep. Draco stayed by her side and clutched at her hand until Alex finally couldn't take it anymore.

She moved up behind the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Why don't you come eat something and let her rest?"

He shook his head, "I'm staying."

"We'll just be over there," Alex pointed to the kitchenette on one side of the room, "We'll be able to tell if anything changes." Draco stared at his mother's face for long seconds as he seemed to be contemplating what to do, and Alex decided to give him a final nudge, "We don't need to crowd her in. We need to be out of the way when the healer gets here so that she can start working immediately."

Draco finally nodded his acceptance, and Alex offered him her hand. He stared at it warily for a few moments before he accepted it. She led him to the kitchen area and pulled out a chair for him at the table. After she had him situated, she turned to get the box of sweets that Sirius had gotten her from a local shop. Draco looked over the selection of candies, chocolates, and small cakes before he finally made his selection and sat back to eat it.

They sat in silence while he nibbled on his cake for a while, before he finally looked up to meet her eyes. She didn't have long to wait before he spoke, "Where are we?"

Alex contemplated exactly how wise it would be to inform the boy of their location, but she finally decided that there wasn't really much he could do about it anyway even if he wanted to give them away. "Rome," she finally answered.

"Oh," the boy was silent for a few more seconds before he looked at her with inquisitive eyes, "Who are you?"

"Alex," she told him her name, but saw that it didn't exactly satisfy him. She eyed him for a few seconds more before finally figuring out what he wanted, "You meant to ask how I know your family?"

Draco looked sheepish for a moment, but it was quickly hidden away by his best haughty look. "Yes," he answered.

"I'm in love with your cousin," she informed him with a smile, "and your mother was very kind to me once when I needed kindness very much." She shivered momentarily at the memories of her "wedding day". She hadn't recognized the half conscious woman leaning against Sirius as the utterly composed woman from that day until Sirius had said her name.

"Really? I've never heard of you before," he studied her with newfound interest.

"It was a very long time ago," she said distractedly as she fought to clear her mind.

Draco was only silent for long enough to take another bite of his food before he came up with another question, "Are you and Sirius married?"

The question managed to snap Alex out of her memories, and she looked at him with surprise for a moment before replying, "No, but we wish very much that we were."

"Then why don't you just go get married?" the innocent question from the clearly confused boy sent a pang through Alex's heart, but she quickly shot it down. How she wished that everything could really be as simple as it was for children.

"There are people who think that Sirius did a very bad thing even though he didn't. If we got married then those people might find him and take him to a very bad place," she tried to sugarcoat the situation since she didn't know exactly how much the boy knew.

Draco, for his part, nodded in understanding, "You mean Azkaban?" At Alex's surprised look, he added, "That's where Father says is the worst place in the world. He says that I'm not allowed to talk about the meetings that he has with his friends or the bad people might put him there."

Alex didn't feel the need to point out either the fact that he had just mentioned the meetings or the fact that it was his father and his friends who were the bad people if anyone was. She thought that they needed a definite change in conversation, and she turned back to Draco in a very serious manner, "Now, Mr. Malfoy, I do believe that it's my turn to ask you a question."

He looked surprised for a moment before he quickly put his hard facade back into place, "Okay."

"How old are you?" Alex smiled at the look of obvious relief on the boy's face. She had to wonder why exactly he had been afraid of her just because of her earlier tone of voice, though.

"Five," he said, adding quickly, "and a half."

Alex smiled, "And what does Mr. Draco Malfoy like to do for fun?"

"I like to fly," a new animation appeared in his eyes that hadn't been there before, "and my best friend, Blaise, and I like to practice magic with our mothers' wands. You can't tell them that, though!" he quickly looked to her for reassurance that she wouldn't tattle on them.

"I won't tell," she confirmed with a gentle smile, "Tell me, Draco, what kind of magic do you like to practice?" She was anxious to hear his answer since Sirius was the only other person she had met who was able to actually consciously perform spells at such a young age. It now seemed that she had stumbled across two little boys with that ability.

Draco looked to his mother's sleeping form to confirm that she wasn't listening before he answered, "I found my mother's old school trunk. She had all of her old books in there and we took some of the ones from first year to study."

Alex didn't know exactly what was taught and during what year it was taught since she had never been to school, but she figured that the first year stuff must be the pretty straightforward basics. It was still amazing that a five year old could perform it, though, and she offered him a pleased smile, "How old is you friend?"

"He's six already," Draco frowned at her, "but that doesn't make him smarter than me, you know."

"Oh, I know that," she nodded along with him, "Why? Does he say that it does?"

Draco's eyes widened comically and he shook his head furiously, "No, Blaise would _never_ say that. I just heard our fathers arguing over us one day."

Alex had no desire to know what death eaters could possibly have to argue about regarding their children. Her entire purpose all night had been to distract Draco, and she wasn't about to let him start thinking about apparently bad memories now that he was finally calmed down. She watched as he fought to suppress a yawn, ultimately losing the battle. "I think you should try to get some sleep," she rose from her chair and walked around the table to offer him her hand.

The boy stared at the proffered hand for a moment, and Alex could read in his mind that he didn't want her to think he was weak. He had gotten over his initial fright and had decided that it would be weakness to allow himself to be coddled. She couldn't imagine why a five-year-old would think such things. She wasn't about to make it an awkward situation by pulling her hand away, so she donned a confused face, "Well, Mr. Malfoy, aren't you going to escort me?"

He stared at her for a moment before seeming to buy it. Finally, he grasped her hand, "Of course I'll escort you, but I thought that I was supposed to offer you my arm, not my hand."

"Oh, yes, usually," she nodded at him as they started walking, "but I'm quite a bit taller than you. We'll have to wait a few years yet to do it properly." Inside, she was laughing that such a young boy could worry over being gentlemanly.

"Do you think that we'll see each other in a few years, Alex?" he looked up at her with questioning gray eyes.

Alex honestly didn't know what was going on in the first place, so she certainly had no clue as to how things might turn out. She replied with the only thing that she could think of, "I certainly hope so, Draco."

--------------------

Sirius considered himself extremely lucky that the need to go to Hogwarts had arisen during Christmas break. It would have been a real pain in the ass to have to sneak in when the place was swarming with students. Of course, the negative side was that if there weren't many students staying over for the holidays then Madam Pomfrey might have been given leave to leave the grounds. It isn't like very many serious injuries can take place if only a few students are there, after all. He might seriously pull a muscle trying to restrain himself from spontaneously combusting if he snuck into the castle only to find the mediwitch not in residence. She hadn't been in her house, though, so he could just hope that she wasn't off visiting some obscure relative.

He hadn't thought to grab a Polyjuice Potion. Being in a desperate hurry will cause you to forget things. Luckily Sirius was very good at virtually disappearing when he wanted to. He could melt into the shadows with the best of them, and the cover of night just made it all that much easier. He couldn't actually disappear without help, though (he didn't count the once when the aurors raided their mansion since he and Alex hadn't been able to reproduce the effects no matter how hard they tried). That meant that his plan was going to be pretty hard to carry out.

Dumbledore knew all about his ability to teleport, so wards against that would be up. He didn't dare to even test that theory since the headmaster probably had it rigged so that he would know if anyone tried to teleport into the school. It just wouldn't be wise to try sneaking around a castle when the headmaster knew you were there.

Sirius had already decided against using the Shrieking Shack to gain access since he wasn't very keen on gallivanting across the school grounds. He still hadn't managed to figure out exactly how much Dumbledore knew about him, so he didn't know if the man would immediately associate any weird animals at the school with him. Regardless of what he knew, if you see a grim running around your school you get suspicious and nervous, and Sirius wouldn't risk alarming anyone in the school to the point of heightening security.

The next option ruled out was using the Owlery. He had kept up his practice of changing himself into several different animals. He could still turn into a crow, as a matter of fact. The problem was that he'd never flown up so high as the West Tower was. He didn't know if he would tire out or not flying all the way up to the top of the tower the Owlery was situated in. He wouldn't be of any use to anyone if he exhausted himself before he even got inside the castle. Then there was the fact that he would still have to travel down the tower and all the way to the other side of the school to reach the hospital wing. The longer distance to travel the greater chance of being caught.

The best option was to use the trapdoor in the Honeyduke's cellar. It opened into a tunnel that ended up coming out on the third floor behind a statue of Gunhilda of Gorsemoor. The hospital wing had been on the third floor when he was in school so he wouldn't have far to sneak. Of course, the staircases and rooms had a tendency to change themselves, so you never could tell. The infirmary was usually either on the first floor or the third floor from what Sirius could remember. Getting around Hogwarts wasn't so much knowing the location of your target as it was just knowing how to get to the place. If you took the same route as always you would end up where you wanted to be more likely than not. Unless the staircases decided to change on you or one of the walls decided to pretend to be a door or some other such nonsense. A person never could tell where they might end up in Hogwarts.

Regardless of the inconsistency of the castle, Sirius had his mind set on the Honeyduke's tunnel. The only problem with that was actually breaking into the store. It was the middle of the night, so breaking and entering _would_ be required. Narcissa couldn't wait until morning. Sirius staked out the building from a narrow alleyway across the street. As far as he could tell, the entire street was asleep. No lights were burning and no shadows were moving around inside any of the buildings within range of his sight, and his sight was greatly enhanced at the moment. Finally, he deemed it safe enough to cross the street to stand in front of the store. How he wished for a wand right now. He'd wished for one ever since they'd taken his last one – he'd **loved** that wand! – but now he really realized that he _needed_ a new wand. He mentally added it to his to do list.

As it was, he didn't have a wand at the moment and he desperately needed one to cut a hole in the door without setting off any alarms. He'd been using nothing but wandless magic to cast spells for years now, but the thought of what was at stake made him nervous. He absolutely could _not_ mess up. Narcissa was very badly injured. He was just about to take as careful aim as he could when a thought occurred to him. Would Dumbledore have gone through the trouble of putting anti-teleportation wards on the whole town of Hogsmeade? There was the remote possibility that Remus had spilled everything of their school days to the headmaster and that the man knew of the tunnel and had protected just this store. That, however, he couldn't believe. Remus might have been easy to guilt trip into a lot of things, but giving away all of James's hard-earned secrets would be like dishonoring his friend as far as the werewolf was concerned. Then again, he might be wrong and get blasted to tiny little bits if he tried to teleport into the store.

After a few seconds of serious contemplation, Sirius decided that the risk was worth it. Dumbledore wouldn't possibly do anything worse than incapacitate him and capture him with any wards he'd put up. He could never be sure that Sirius was the absolute _only_ person who teleported, after all. Wouldn't want to end up accidentally maiming and killing some influential figure just because he'd put up a few less than humane wards. That would be very unfortunate. If it was between setting off the alarms and simply finding himself in a sticky trap Sirius would rather risk the trap. He was good at getting out of them, but if he set off an alarm there was no getting out of that situation.

All of his worries seemed to be in vain as he teleported in without incident. He did a quick examination of himself to be sure he hadn't been affected in any horrible way that would catch up with him later, but found nothing. He shrugged and made his way towards the cellar door, snatching up a wide assortment of candy along the way – might as well make breaking and entering into a candy shop worth his while! Sirius winced as he opened the door. It was in serious need of a good greasing, or at least a Silencing Charm if no one could be bothered to actually _fix_ the problem. To add to his discomfort that the owners living upstairs might hear him, the stairs also creaked – very loudly. It sounded like an elephant was trying to walk down the staircase! All of the noise caused him to practically run to the trap door and fling it opened. He avoided the ladder as he simply jumped into the hole to save time and closed the door behind him. He ran in the pitch blackness of the tunnel for a ways before he finally felt that he was at a safe enough distance from the store to be safe even if someone _had_ woken up.

He didn't feel entirely safe illuminating his surroundings, so he opted to just stay in the dark. It was a straight tunnel with no turnoffs anyway so it wasn't like he was going to get lost. The fact that he was twenty-six years old and still sneaking around Hogwarts in secret passages wasn't lost on him. The more he thought about it, the more bitterness he let creep up on him about the whole situation. He _hated_ Dumbledore and really didn't want to be in the same castle as the man. By the time he finally reached the wall at the end of the tunnel he had worked himself into quite a rage.

He spent a few seconds trying to get his magic under control as much as possible before he gave up and just opened the wall and stepped out of the tunnel. He only stayed behind the statue of the humpbacked witch for long enough to look in both directions to make sure the coast was clear before he strolled out into the hall. He walked the length of the corridor with no incidents, but ended up reaching the corner at the same time as someone else.

He found himself face to wand with Minerva McGonagall. She was in her nightgown and her hair was long and wild around her shoulders instead of in it's stiff bun. She cast a stunning spell at him point-blank and he had no time to dodge it. Luckily he was so worked up that the power zinging around his body must have rendered it ineffective. He was left fully awake and she was left staring at him in shock.

Sirius made a grab for Professor McGonagall even as she opened her mouth again, whether to scream or to curse him again he didn't know. He would have simply knocked her out and left her there, but his emotions were running so high that he didn't trust himself to use magic on another person. Particularly not on a person he liked as much as Minerva McGonagall. He wouldn't forgive himself if he managed to actually hurt her on accident because his power got away from him. All of that taken into consideration, he could do nothing else but literally drag her along with him as he made his way to the hospital wing.

The double doors to the infirmary were locked. Sirius cursed viciously. Seconds later the doors were blown apart, and he only thought about it for a split second before he strode in with the Transfiguration professor in tow. He knew that he was taking too long, and the worry over his cousin paired with the rage and bitterness the castle inspired in him was making him crazy. They were halfway across the infirmary when Madam Pomfrey came rushing out of her quarters with wand at the ready. She stopped and gaped at him in surprise, seemingly unable to react further.

The flood of light coming from the healer's opened door allowed Sirius to notice the crackling black energy enveloping his body for the first time. The sight brought him back down to Earth abruptly. It was like he had been in a furious daze, and everything he had done came back to him with striking clarity. He practically threw Professor McGonagall away from him in his haste to release her. A staring match ensued between the two of them. The woman seemed to be in shock, so Sirius decided to look anywhere but at her.

His eyes happened to land on the destroyed doors. With a mumbled, "Sorry," he fixed them.

The action was sufficient to snap Madam Pomfrey out of her daze. "What are you doing here?" she whispered in a hiss.

"I need your help," he whispered back, figuring that if she was whispering he would, too.

The mediwitch glared at him, "Have you let that girl get hurt again?" Despite how brilliant she was at healing injuries, Sirius had the thought that she was one of the stupidest women he had ever met. After his violent reaction to that question the last time she asked something like it, you would think that she would know better than to ask again.

He leveled her with a glare. It was even more unnerving than it usually was due to his empowered state, which dilated his pupils and caused his irises to go wild with swirling black amidst the gray. "I would kill myself before I allowed her to get hurt," his tone was icy.

"Well, you certainly can't blame me for worrying about her after the state she was in when you disappeared with her!" the healer exclaimed. A glaring match ensued between Sirius and Madam Pomfrey, but it had only just barely gotten started when it was interrupted.

Professor McGonagall had found her voice, and was looking between the two of them in shock and confusion. "You..but you...he's in the castle and you...you helped him...but he's...why would you..." she was mumbling to herself and what she was saying was only hearable in broken phrases.

Sirius sent her an apologetic look and stunned her now that he trusted his control more. He caught her with a levitation spell before she hit the floor, and transferred her to a nearby bed.

Madam Pomfrey gasped at him, "Why was she here? Why did you do that?"

"I don't have time to explain anything to her," Sirius forgot the healer's earlier insult to him and went back to business, "Narcissa is hurt and you have to come with me to help her."

"Narcissa _Malfoy_?" Madam Pomfrey asked incredulously even as she was being dragged out of the infirmary.

Sirius didn't bother to shoot the woman the withering look he wanted to, "Do you know any other Narcissa's? Now hush before we wake someone else up."

They continued down the hall in silence. As they reached a staircase Sirius stopped and looked around the corner up it carefully. No noise was coming from the DADA corridor, so he let out a breath of relief that the professor wasn't awake. He wouldn't like to run into the man. He was a master duelist with a dangerous wand arm. Sirius finally continued walking past the staircase, and soon they came upon the door to McGonagall's office.

The door was locked, so Sirius came to the conclusion that the deputy headmistress had been in her bed when she decided to come looking for him. He turned to frown at the healer, "Where is Dumbledore?" If Professor McGonagall had been alerted to his presence when she wasn't even in her office then surely the headmaster would know.

"He was called away a few hours ago. There was something about a death eater attack in Wiltshire," Madam Pomfrey answered him.

Sirius knew that it wasn't just luck that the headmaster happened to be away. Wiltshire was the location of Malfoy Manor, so that must be where Dumbledore had gone. No other _prominent_ wizarding families lived in the county and it wasn't likely that the death eaters had attacked someone else tonight anyway. They were too weak and too heavily hunted to risk it. He was relieved that at least he wouldn't have to worry about the headmaster. The fact that the man had been called away from the school meant that the Ministry was really concentrating on the attack on the Malfoys, so that also meant what he was about to do wouldn't be half as dangerous as if everyone wasn't preoccupied.

He unlocked the office door and strode in as he made the final decision to put himself in even more danger. Without waiting for Madam Pomfrey to ask anymore questions, he strode over to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder from a decorative bowl on the mantle. He threw it into the fire and then stepped into the green flames, pulling the mediwitch along with him and holding her close to his body so that she wouldn't be hurt or fall out at the wrong place.

It was extremely dangerous to floo due to the fact that the Ministry kept a very close eye on the network. Flooing in and out of Hogwarts was especially monitored. If someone was watching this particular fireplace it would not be especially hard to grab him. Flooing was the quickest way to get away from the castle, however, so it would have to be done. He didn't want to drag Madam Pomfrey into any of their tunnels and he didn't want to go traipsing across the grounds to Hogsmeade so they could apparate.

He could do little else but hope that they were too busy monitoring Malfoy Manor to worry about Hogwarts too much on this particular night. Nevertheless, he wasted no time in shouting out his destination. There was really no point in loitering in McGonagall's fireplace anyway. As they were spinning in a cloud of soot, Sirius remembered exactly why he hated flooing. It was dirty, dizzying, and uncomfortable. Madam Pomfrey was clinging to him as if her life depended on it, and had moved closer into him to the point where there was no breathing room. It had been a very long time since anyone other than Alex had been so close to his person, and he was starting to get weird ideas about the mediwitch, none of which he wanted to think about. He looked down to see that she had her eyes tightly closed and her head turned into his chest facing away from the grates that were flying by.

Finally, they shot out of the fireplace. Sirius struggled to maintain his feet, managing quite well until Madam Pomfrey used her grip in his robes to try and keep herself from falling. Sirius stumbled, and was only able to stay upright by grabbing onto the back of a chair. The healer finally regained her feet, and she let go of him to turn her trembling hands to better use shaking the soot out of her nightgown.

"...horrid, unnecessary, dangerous use of a fireplace..." could be heard in whispered mutters as she put herself to rights.

Sirius didn't bother to shake out his own robes since he was already dirty from the pub in Knockturn Alley and covered in a sheen of sweat from battling death eaters and from the adrenaline of racing a broomstick down a corridor while dodging curses and evading aurors. Instead, he watched the woman in amusement, finally asking, "Scared of flooing?"

She stopped preening to turn an accusatory glare on him, "I **hate** flooing!" When Sirius reacted by laughing outright at her predicament, she turned her eyes away from him to take in her surroundings. She looked surprised to see the lavish and grand medieval styled kitchen she was in. She turned back to look at him, "Where are we?"

"My late mother's house and my childhood hell, formally called Grimmauld Place," he looked around in distaste as he answered her with a bitter note to his voice.

The woman didn't seem to know how to respond to him, as she said nothing. Sirius finished his survey of the room, and frowned in displeasure as he started walking out the doorway. Madam Pomfrey tagged along behind him, "Where is Narcissa? Is she here?"

"No, she's not here," Sirius finally reached the front door and wrenched it opened, "They can trace floos, and I couldn't let them know my current hideout, now could I?"

He didn't give the mediwitch time to answer him as they had already descended the front steps onto the sidewalk below. He turned around and grabbed her hand just as he teleported away.

-----------------

A/N: Well it's _kind of_ short, and it seems like it too because not a lot happened. This chapter was mostly just to set the scene for things to come. I've worked it out so that the first section of the story (the happenings in the 80s) will end with Chapter Twenty-Nine. This will make the next section of the story (the happenings in the 90s, or Harry's school days) begin with chapter Thirty, which I thought was nice and rounded out. I really can't say whether or not the next section will be shorter or longer than the first section, but I'm really leaning towards longer since it will have to encompass all seven of Harry's school years. Plus I'm sure you would all like to know what happens to everyone instead of it just being cut off with the end of seventh year with no explanations. I'd seriously contemplated having the first section be one story and having the next section be a sequel, but in the end I decided I liked the idea of one really long story better than two shorter ones.

This chapter contained a few fairly questionable things:

First, Gunhilda of Gorsemoor is just an educated guess as to who the statue of the humpbacked witch is. I haven't read anywhere that indicated that J.K. Rowling has confirmed this, so as far as I _know_ it is still just an assumption.

Second, it says in SS/PS that everything in Hogwarts moves around a lot. Not to mention the fact that if you really pay attention to the descriptions of how they get to places you would have noticed that the infirmary moves. In second year the Hospital Wing is clearly on the first floor because Harry leaves there and goes to the floor above it and ends up in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, which is on the second floor. Later, in fifth year, Harry leaves the entrance hall (on the ground floor) and it clearly states that he goes up more than one flight of stairs to get to the hospital wing, so it is not on the first floor anymore. Later on in OotP it says he leaves the Hospital Wing and goes down two floors to the first floor, so even though earlier it didn't state exactly how many staircases he ran up it now indicates that he ran to the third floor. Therefore, it isn't farfetched for me to say that you never can tell where you'll end up in Hogwarts. Even something as big as the infirmary can move around. The quote from the books about things not staying the same is:

_There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump.Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and Harry was sure the coats of armor could walk. _

Third, Malfoy Manor really is in Wiltshire according to OotP in case anyone doesn't remember. I'm sure they probably have houses everywhere since the Malfoys strike me as showoffs and they have enough money for it anyways. Why rent a hotel room when you could simply own a house there? For all intents and purposes, though, their ancestral home and main residence is in Wiltshire.

Lastly, we know it is possible to see and touch other people in the floo (and perhaps even eavesdrop on them, though that isn't relevant right now). In OotP, Dolores Umbridge tries to make a grab for Sirius in the Gryffindor common room fireplace while he is talking to the trio about whether or not to form "Dumbledore's Army".


	28. Quite the Looker

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The hallway was fortunately deserted when Sirius's feet hit the ground once more. He had once again risked having to waste his time memory charming muggles for the sake of not having to appear in some random dark alley and actually walk through the hotel. Madam Pomfrey was still clinging to his hand as if her life depended on it. Sirius was glad of his decision to teleport into the hallway since he thought she might really faint if she had to experience revolving doors and elevators.

"What did you do? That wasn't apparating," the mediwitch stared at him while her face went through varying degrees of confusion the more she thought about it.

Sirius ignored her and stepped forward to unlock the door. He didn't want to startle either Narcissa or Draco by pounding on the door or having Alex suddenly break out into a run for it for no apparent reason. He slid his key card into place and watched as Madam Pomfrey eyed it with all the suspicion born of living solely in the wizarding world for as long as she had. Her eyes widened as it beeped and the light flashed green. Sirius ignored her questions once again as he pushed the door opened.

They entered the room with the healer still clinging to his hand, but both stopped in the doorway as they took in the sight before them. Alex and Draco were curled up together in an armchair by the fireplace. Alex was leaning against the back of the chair with one arm around Draco while the boy had both of his arms around her waist and was sleeping on her chest. Their platinum hair was mixing together, with Alex's being a few shades more silver and Draco's winning out with a tad more blonde. Their breaths were the deep ones accompanying an undisturbed sleep, and Sirius couldn't bring himself to wake them up.

He motioned for the healer to be quiet, and moved with all of the natural grace and stealth he possessed more fully into the room. He came to kneel noiselessly by Narcissa's form on the couch, and Madam Pomfrey was slightly less successful at being quiet as she copied his actions. Luckily neither of the sleeping blonds a few yards away from them noticed. The mediwitch examined Narcissa without a comment, fortunately not muttering under her breath like the was prone to doing.

Finally, she turned back to Sirius, "I don't have my bag."

"Oh," Sirius might have hit himself for being in too much of a hurry to remember something so vital, "What do you need?"

Madam Pomfrey looked over Narcissa for a second before answering, "A good dose of Blood-Replenishing Potion, at least one vial of the Draught of Peace preferably but a simple Calming Draught will do if it has to, Deflating Draught for the swelling, and Murtlap Essence for the cuts."

Sirius was glad to say that he had all of the requested potions. He had been charged with healing his own injuries for many years now, and most of the potions were basic first-aid supplies that everyone had anyway. The only one that was rather rare was the Draught of Peace, which was tricky to make and included very poisonous ingredients. Most people went out and bought a simple Calming Draught instead, but Sirius had brewed quite a large supply of Draught of Peace for himself. He found that it was much more effective in soothing his nightmares and even his paranoia on the rare occasion that it became out of control. He went into the bedroom where he kept his potions kit and returned a few seconds later with all of the aforementioned concoctions safely in his bag.

"There might not be enough Deflating Draught or Murtlap Essence there since I've been in quite a few fights," he informed Madam Pomfrey as she inspected the vials, "but I can whip up some more if you need it."

Madam Pomfrey looked over her patient keenly before responding, "No, I think this is quite enough."

The room was in complete silence except for the deep breathing of the two sleeping occupants of the armchair. Sirius looked on anxiously as the healer tended to his cousin's almost unrecognizable face. It only took a few minutes for the swelling to go down and the cuts and scrapes to fade away, and Narcissa finally looked like herself again. Now that the full extent of her major injuries were visible, the healer examined the wound on her head. She used a series of spells paired with the remaining Murtlap Essence to seal the rather large gash, and then administered the Blood-Replenishing Potion.

She was just about to pull back when Sirius stopped her, "Both her right arm and her right leg were broken, but I healed those before I moved her. I just think that if she was thrown hard enough to do that much damage that she might be injured elsewhere, too."

"I'd better undress her then," she looked at Sirius expectantly, but when he made no move she sighed in exasperation, "Aren't you going to leave?"

"No," he answered tersely.

Madam Pomfrey stared at him, "A grown man doesn't have the right to see a grown woman without her clothes unless they are together or he is her doctor!"

Sirius glared back at her, "She's my cousin, not some random woman in off the street. I have no interest in ogling her, but I'm not leaving because I want to see what those bastards did to her! I'm not going to let you come to me after you've healed her and coddle me into thinking that she was perfectly fine!"

Their heated argument woke up Alex, who was a horribly light sleeper. She started in surprise, and the movement woke Draco up in turn. The boy leapt out of the armchair and was hovering over the couch within seconds, "Is she okay?"

Madam Pomfrey tore her gaze away from Sirius to answer him, "She'll be perfectly fine, dear."

Draco, however, ignored her and turned back to Sirius. "Is she going to be okay?" he repeated anxiously, clearly wanting an answer from his cousin.

"I think so, Draco. We need to remove her clothes and look to see if she's hurt somewhere else, but she'll be perfectly fine either way," he explained the situation to the boy gently even as Madam Pomfrey glared at him in indignation. He supposed that she was unreasonably angry that the boy had wanted Sirius's opinion instead of her professional one.

Sirius felt Alex read his thoughts through their connection, and she saved anyone else from speaking with her quiet demand, "Sirius, you take Draco and wait in the bedroom. I'll stay with Narcissa while Madam Pomfrey examines her."

He was just about the protest when he caught the look in Alex's eyes. She was diffusing the situation with Madam Pomfrey rather effectively, but he knew that he could trust her to tell him exactly what state his cousin was in. She wouldn't feel the need to protect him like Madam Pomfrey would. Still a little reluctantly, he placed a hand on Draco's shoulder and steered him away from the couch and across the living room.

The boy began to put up a fight about leaving his mother's side, but Sirius firmly admonished him, "Draco, we'll do what the healer says."

Once they were safely behind the closed bedroom door, he looked down to see the boy glaring at him with fury. "I want to see my mother!" he hissed in quite a good impression of Sirius himself.

"We can see her in a few minutes," Sirius attempted to calm him, "They're going to look under her clothes and they don't think we men need to see that."

"I don't care!" the boy exclaimed painfully, "She's my mother!"

Sirius raised his hand to place it on Draco's shoulder in a comforting gesture, but the boy flinched and recoiled, springing back until he was stopped by the wall. Sirius lowered his hand in surprise, and took in his young cousin's frightened eyes and aghast expression. His body language was everything that one would expect from a cornered dog. Sirius felt fury welling up within him.

He stayed perfectly still and made sure to keep his voice level as he addressed the terrified child, "I'm not going to hurt you, Draco."

He watched as silver eyes studied him with distrust for several seconds before the boy spoke in confusion, "But I argued with you."

"That doesn't mean I should **beat** you!" Sirius exclaimed before he could stop himself. At the once more frightened eyes that greeted his outburst, he lowered his voice to ask, "Why did you think I was going to punish you like that?"

"Father does," was the matter-of-fact answer, "He says it builds character. I'm supposed to obey my superiors without asking questions."

Sirius strained to keep his fury under control, "Just because he said so you think it's okay?"

Draco shrugged. "Blaise's father does it, too," he said as if that made it all make sense.

Sirius had absolutely no clue who Blaise or his father was, but it really didn't matter to him either way. He knew that Lucius Malfoy was an evil, sadistic bastard, but he'd never pegged him as the type to beat his own son! Especially if said son was his only child and heir! Sirius had with every fiber of his being expected that the boy would be pampered and spoiled beyond belief and that he would know no punishment or boundaries at all. He'd never _ever_ expected to find out that he was hit simply for daring to question things! Even if he needed punishment most wizards and witches simply sent a momentarily painful, though completely harmless, zap with their wands. Even a traditional spanking wouldn't have made a child flinch at the mere sight of a hand! No, this boy had been beaten _way_ beyond the bounds of acceptability.

Sirius's voice was deceptively calm as he spoke again, "Does he leave marks on you?"

Draco's eyebrow rose in another move reminiscent of Sirius. "Yes, of course," he spoke with confusion that Sirius didn't already know such things, "He says it's so that I'll remember every time I look at it. By the time it goes away I'm supposed to have learned my lesson."

The man didn't even let the boy get rid of his bruises! Sirius clinched his teeth together in an effort not to look angry, "Does it work?"

"I don't want to learn it all over again," came the simple answer.

Sirius was just about to ask Draco if his mother knew about this punishment when Alex opened the bedroom door with news of the lady herself. Draco rushed forward and held out his hand to Alex, which she accepted with a smile. Sirius looked on in confusion as they walked hand in hand back into the living room.

Narcissa was awake and sitting up when Sirius finally followed in behind them. Draco was sitting beside his mother on the couch while Madam Pomfrey gathered together all of the potions vials spread out on the floor. All of the walking he'd been doing all night wasn't helping the pain in his leg at all, and he winced as it throbbed with newfound agony. Despite his attempts to be as graceful as always, he ended up fairly limping into the room to stand beside Alex.

For her part, Alex noticed every little wince and limp he made. She was staring at him in a mix between concern and anger when he finally came to a stop beside her. "Why didn't you say you were hurt?" she demanded.

This exclamation caught Madam Pomfrey's attention, and her head snapped up to look at him, "Where are you injured?"

Sirius sighed in acceptance as Alex forced him backwards until he was sitting in the armchair. He motioned to his leg as the mediwitch stalked over to him. She examined him as Alex watched over her shoulder. As he winced at a particularly painful prod on the part of the healer, Alex addressed him, "What did you do?"

"Slammed into a wall during the fight," he gritted his teeth together in pain as Madam Pomfrey continued to poke at him, "It shattered and I couldn't get up so I ended up rolling around on the floor until I got an opening to attack back. I patched it up well enough to get out of the manor."

Madam Pomfrey huffed at him, "Well enough, indeed? It's ten times worse now than if you'd just left it alone!"

"Yes, well, I couldn't just leave them there while I crawled home now could I?" he asked indignantly, "I patched it up enough that I could get around on it."

"Well, now I'll have to just take all the bones out and start all over!" the healer declared.

Alex placed her hands on her hips in a way that made her look a hundred times more formidable than normal. She shook her head as she declared, "I'll go and fetch the Skele-Gro then."

Madam Pomfrey continued to tut over him as she waved her wand at his leg and said the incantation to remove all of the bones. It was an odd feeling not to have any bones in one leg. His entire leg felt like jello, and if he tried to move it just went every which way. He didn't have long to wait before Alex returned with a beaker full of steaming liquid. He sighed in defeat as it was thrust into his hand, and tipped his head back to take it all in one go. It burned his throat like hell when it went down, and a few minutes later the pain began to wash over his leg. It was _definitely_ going to be a long night.

--------------------

Alex was definitely not looking forward to the time when Sirius would finally get around to asking her what they had found during their examination of his cousin. She had the feeling that he would react violently and get himself into even more trouble than he already was. He really didn't need to give anyone another reason to want him either dead or soulless. She was listening to the conversation without speaking and would occasionally share a glance with Madam Pomfrey, who was thinking the same thing she was. The evidence was no longer on Narcissa's body since the healer had administered very generous amounts of bruise-healing paste, but the information alone would send Sirius into a rage. Alex was just hoping that the conversation between cousins lasted long enough for Sirius to maybe forget about it, though she knew that was a very farfetched hope.

Sirius was doing a wonderful job at keeping a smile on his face. He hadn't grimaced or frowned once during the entire ordeal even though Alex knew that he was in pain. The bigger the bones you had to regrow the more painful it was, which made regrowing a femur absolutely horrible. Add in a fibula, a tibia, and a patella to be regrown at the same time and Alex could very well imagine that it would be unbearable. Sirius, however, was talking to Draco as if nothing at all was wrong with him.

"How did you learn to fly like that, Sirius?" Draco was asking.

Sirius grinned at him, and Alex was sure that no one else noticed the tightness of his expression as he answered. "A lot of years of practice," he smiled again at the boy, "but I'm really not that great."

Draco ignored the last comment as he pressed on, "Were you on your house team at Hogwarts?"

"I was a beater," Sirius answered, "but that hardly requires being a great flyer. You just have to be able to fly fast enough to intercept the bludger and have a strong enough grip to stay on your broom when you hit it."

"You're much better than that!" Draco was practically bouncing with energy, "I've never been so excited in my whole life as when we were flying down the hallway!"

Sirius tightened his grip on her hand as another wave of pain shot up his leg, but he kept up his smile for the little boy grinning up at him, "Well, you've only had six years to experience the most exciting thing in your life. I'm sure next year you'll come up with something better."

"Oh, I'm not six yet," Draco said mournfully as if he were announcing that he was afflicted with some dreaded disease.

"Draco is five," Narcissa spoke up for the first time since their conversation had begun.

"And a **half**!" came the exclamation from the boy in question.

"...and a half," she acknowledged her son before continuing, "His birthday is June the fifth."

Sirius hadn't really been paying attention to the goings on of everyday life since he'd been on the run. He should have known that Draco was only five. He was just a few months older than Harry, after all. He recovered in time to send Draco an understanding look, "Oh, I wouldn't feel too horrible about not being six yet. I was the second oldest of my entire group of friends and that didn't make me any better than them."

"No," Narcissa's melodic laughter went around the room, "you were the worst of them all. Well, except maybe Potter. He was an arrogant little git when he had no real reason to be."

For a moment Alex was afraid that Sirius would react badly to the mention of his best friend. For a moment he did. Then, he seemed to think it was better to smile. He shook his head at his cousin, "James was pureblooded the same as us if that's what you mean. He _was_ a bit too pompous, though it wasn't for that reason at all."

"Oh?" the woman leaned forward in acceptance of the challenge, "Pray tell, what _was_ his reason?"

"My dear Narcissa," Sirius addressed her with flourish, "he was under the impression that he was perfect, of course! He thought that he was the cleverest, funniest, most handsome gift that had ever been bestowed on Hogwarts. His blood had nothing to do with it!"

Narcissa scoffed in a rather unladylike manner, "James Potter perfect? I've never heard such utter foolishness! Why, you beat him in many classes and that Lupin boy beat him the rest of the time! He wasn't funny at all. He was just confrontational and horribly rude. As for handsome...that's just the most absurd thing I've ever heard! He looked alright, mind you, but I dare say that you were the object of every girl's fantasies! Even Lupin had a sweet demeanor that Potter could never have won against!"

Alex could feel Sirius's amusement even before he opened his mouth to reply with a chuckle, "To be fair, Lily beat us all in charms, and I'll have you know that James did manage to come out top in DADA once or twice. How could you say that he wasn't funny? Our pranks are still legendary! I'll have to agree with you about the handsome bit, though. I _am_ quite a looker, aren't I?"

"I spent years of my life hearing things about you that no lady should know, much less about her cousin!" Narcissa informed him with a grin, "You're still amazingly wonderful even for a Black, if I do say so myself. You look as though you haven't aged a bit over twenty!"

Alex shared a look with Sirius as he gazed over to gauge her reaction to his cousin knowing about their situation. After a few seconds, he decided to answer her, "Twenty-two, actually. Well, no, I can't really say that. I was less than a month away from turning twenty-three."

Both Narcissa and Madam Pomfrey stared at him in shock and confusion for a few seconds, and both looked on the verge of bursting with questions. Draco interrupted them all, however, "Mother, are we going to stay here?"

Obviously the child was horribly bored listening to everyone reminisce about things that happened before he was born. He had just moved onto the nearest available topic his mind focused on. It was apparent on the faces of both his mother and his cousin that his question had thrown them for a loop. It was Alex who finally thought of a reply, "We would love to have you stay with us, Draco, but I'm sure that you're being searched for already."

"Oh," was the only response she got from the boy.

Narcissa, however, appeared rather alarmed, "Sirius, I'm sure that Lucius has the entire Ministry looking for Draco! What are we going to do?"

"I take it that returning to your husband isn't what you want?" Sirius inquired bluntly.

Alex could easily understand why returning to Lucius Malfoy was not something that the woman wanted to do. She had seen the bruises littering the woman's body. Sirius, however, was still blissfully unaware of his cousin's injuries. Alex decided to save the situation once again, and she tightened her grip on Sirius's hand as she spoke, "Why don't you stay here for the night? We can decide what to do in the morning after we've all had a good sleep and time to think things over."

Madam Pomfrey spoke up for the first time since they'd all come together in the living room. "Albus will have a search party out for me, as well," she suddenly stared at Sirius in obvious alarm, "What about Minerva?"

Sirius groaned, "I should have Obliviated her, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I guess they'll know that I kidnaped you."

The mediwitch shook her head, "I'll just have to go back and let them know that I'm fine."

"No," Sirius immediately disagreed, "They'll want to know where you've been. You can't go back until we figure out what to do about Narcissa and Draco."

Everyone reverted back to silence as they thought about the night's events. Draco yawned again, just like he had earlier while they were sitting at the table. The sudden action caused Alex to realize that she was tired, too. She leaned against Sirius's shoulder and felt his head come to rest on top of hers. A quick glance around the room showed that Draco was nodding off leaning against his mother, Narcissa was drowsily rubbing his back, and Madam Pomfrey was dozing off against the arm of the couch. She moved her eyes to the clock, which said that it was now well past four o'clock in the morning.

Alex sighed, "Why don't we all try to get some sleep?"

Everyone in the room nodded their assent. Sirius's arm came around her as he lifted her off of him so he could lean forward. Without even raising a finger, he had the two couches both transfigured into beds. Alex rose to her feet and offered Sirius a hand up. Madam Pomfrey rose to help, too, but Alex waved her off. Even though she looked weak, she was really very strong thanks to her power.

Sirius leaned against her as they made their way slowly to the bedroom. Alex waved to Draco as Sirius wished goodnight to the room in general. She helped him to the bed and settled him down onto it before taking her place beside him. She leaned over him to press a kiss to his lips, which he reciprocated. They pulled apart a few seconds later with a smile.

She thought that she was off the hook right up until he spoke, "What did you find on Narcissa?"

A quick look into his eyes assured her that there was no way in hell he would accept anything less than the whole story. If she tried to sugarcoat it for him he would know, and he would be _furious_. She sighed in defeat, "Bruises."

He stiffened, "_Bruises_?"

"Yes," she answered softly, "We were expecting to see broken ribs or bleeding wounds, but we only found bruises. They weren't even new ones."

"Fuck," he swore angrily, "I always knew that goddamned Lucius Malfoy had some sort of fucking megalomaniac problem, but a _wife beater_? He beats Draco, too, for fuck's sake! _Draco_! His _five_-year-old!"

Alex looked him right in the eye, "You aren't going after him." It wasn't a request. It was a demand.

Sirius glared at her defiantly, "The hell I won't! He beat them and I'm going to make him fucking _hurt_ for it."

"You'll do no such thing," if he wanted to play around with her like he wore the pants in their relationship then he was about to find out that he'd better respect the skirt between them if he wanted to get up it anytime soon.

"Just what are _you_ going to do to stop me?" he challenged angrily.

Alex knew that he hated being ordered around, but snapping at her was just taking it too far. She slapped him furiously before she even realized that she had done it, but even once she realized it she didn't regret it. She was furious and he deserved it. She stared at him with the look she usually reserved for the people before she killed them like the disgusting leeches they were.

"Don't you _dare_ take that tone with _me_!"she hissed at him, "You act as though you think I can't raise a finger against you."

"You _can't_," he hissed right back, "I can control you if I want, remember? I've never done it before, but I'm not going to let you stop me from giving that bastard what he deserves."

The angry red hand print on his face did nothing to make Alex feel better. She wanted to strangle him. She stood abruptly from the bed, "Go ahead, Sirius, order me to stay here while you walk out that door. Order me to sit back while you go out and give everyone yet another reason to come after you. Order me to sit here while _you_ fuck up _my_ chances of freedom even more. I don't have a choice, right? It isn't my life to lead, it's _yours_ to _control_. When you come back don't expect me to cater to your post-battle need to reassure yourself that we're both okay. Oh, wait, I forgot, you can _control_ me. You might as well go ahead and rape me, as well, while you're busy owning me."

He stared at her in surprise, the anger fading from his eyes. The taken aback expression on his face did nothing to pacify her, however. He sat up slowly as she glared at him, "You know I would never do that. I was mad when I said that, but I would never _really_ do it. You know that. You know me better than that."

"No, I don't think I do," she took a step farther away as he reached for her, "The Sirius Black I know would never have even _implied_ that to me."

He gritted his teeth in pain and stood from the bed, supporting himself mostly on one leg as the bones in the other one were barely strong enough to put weight on. He limped towards her, and this time she stood her ground as he reached out a hand to gently caress the side of her face. "I never would, Alex. I love you. I have nothing but respect for you, but this is something I have to do. You have to respect my decision enough to let me do it," he whispered.

"Respect?" her voice had turned back into a hiss, "_Respect_ you?" Her fist connected solidly with his nose. He did not expect it, and that added to his already precarious balance let her blow send him sailing across the floor until he landed sprawled out on his back. She advanced on him and used her foot on his chest to shove him back down when he started to get up. He collapsed back onto his back and stared up at her with wide eyes as she spoke, "Let me tell you something about respect. If you respected me you wouldn't go out of your way to ruin my life along with yours with every move you make! I gave up any chance of getting out of this I had when I decided to stay with you because I trusted that you would find Pettigrew and clear your name. It won't do any good now because all of the influential wizards you seem determined to kill and all of the laws you seem determined to break will make the month you spent in Azkaban nothing but a tiny little speck compared to what you're going to owe. I'm not going to _respect_ you when the best thing you can think of to do is threaten me with an order to sit back and watch you run both of our lives into the ground! You really think you won't be caught if you try to get in to hurt Lucius Malfoy? Never thought about that, did you, Sirius? Never stopped to think that he'll have the whole Ministry surrounding him while he plays the victimized husband and father. No, I don't think I'll respect you. I don't even think I'll _look_ at you right now." With that, she spun around on her heel and marched out of the room.

--------------------

A/N: I had a comment that Sirius and Alex were always too good together. It was pointed out that even the happiest couples in the world can't go forever without having a disagreement. I completely agree with that, but it wasn't like I could just let them argue over something simple and ordinary. Well, they definitely had a little _spat_ in this chapter didn't they? There you go, Sarah my dear friend, I hope you're happy! Lol...No really, don't feel too bad about it, and that goes for anyone else who was just waiting for an argument to happen, too. I've been planning this fight for ages, so it wasn't in any way the result of anyone's comments.

All of the potions names and their effects were taken directly from the HP universe. I didn't make any of them up myself. I've never really tried to do something like that, and I doubt I would be any good at it anyway.

For anyone who never took anatomy...the femur, which is the bone from your hip to your knee if you didn't know, actually is the longest bone in the body. That's not to say that I actually read somewhere that what I said about the pain in relation to the size of the bone was true, because I just made it all up off the top of my head. If it really _is_ true then good for me, but I didn't know it was when I wrote it. _If_ it _was_ true, however, the femur really would be one of the most painful bones to regrow. I didn't make _that_ part up.

As for all of the stuff I said about the Marauders...

1. As far as I know J.K. hasn't given their actual birth dates anywhere. I was just making up my own, and decided that Sirius's was on November 22. I said on the headstone in Chapter Eighteen that James's was on November 5, so that would make Sirius second oldest since if Remus or Peter's birthdays ever come up I'll make them after those two. If anyone cares, I kind of based their birthdays on astrology and horoscopes and all that stuff (that isn't to say whether or not I personally believe in such things). It was actually really interesting when I got to reading them (the paragraph on sex drives and such greatly amused me in the sign I chose for Sirius lol)...If you'd like to read the profiles I was reading I'll provide you with a link. It really does delve into how I perceive them when I am writing them (particularly Sirius and Alex) even though I didn't start out with the intention of following these signs, just found them when I decided I had to give them birthdays. Just a bonus hint for people who actually bother to read these notes...if you read the profiles it might give you a clue or two about what's going to happen in the future. I myself was very surprised when I read one or two things in the profiles which I've already had planned to happen...

Sirius's birthday makes him a Scorpio – http/ www.astrology-online. com/scorpio.htm

Alex's (April 8) makes her an Aries – http/www.astrology-online. com/aries.htm

2. Anyone who doesn't believe me about J.K. saying that Sirius was the most handsome out of the Marauders can just go to her official website and then go to the section where she recognizes extraordinary fan sites. Read the comments she wrote about the Immeritus site, and you'll see that I'm not making this one up.

3. I know that in PoA when the Trio is eavesdropping in the Three Broomsticks it is said that Sirius and James were both extremely bright. That doesn't mean, however, that James necessarily would have come out top in any of his classes. Being smart doesn't automatically seat you top in class rankings. I know plenty of bright people that just can't be bothered to do homework, brush up on difficult subjects every once in a while, or just care in general. They usually have other interests that to them take a front seat to academics...things like sports, perhaps. James was apparently a big quidditch fan. Oh, and Lily was also apparently very good in Charms, which is why I acknowledged that. I also realize that Snape probably would have been top in Potions...I mean not _every_ good student can possibly be good enough to be a Potions **Master**...but why on God's green earth would _Sirius_ admit that Snape of _all_ people was better at him than something? That's right, he wouldn't. Therefore I didn't mention it.

Oh, and before I forget...Draco's birthday really is June 5


	29. Grief and Goodbyes

A/N: Someone asked in a review how much time I spend writing, but it was anonymous so I couldn't reply to them directly. Well, here is your answer...I don't have a set time to write or anything like that. I really couldn't average it out for you because I can go four or five days without ever _looking_ at the story, and then spend the next day writing on it for a couple of hours. It all depends on my mood. It doesn't really take that long to write each chapter, though. The updates might be _about_ a week apart, but I'm only writing one or two days out of that time.

On another note...this story was archived in a C2...I was just checking out my stats while I was already in my account just to see if I had any reviews, and lo and behold I find something different instead. Whichever one of you it was that liked this enough to add it to your archive...thanks! It was a welcome surprise.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

It had been a couple of days since Sirius had brought Narcissa and Draco to their hotel room in Rome. He had decided not to go after Lucius Malfoy after all. He still wanted to do so with every fiber of his being, but Alex had made some very valid points about the impossibility of doing it. He'd been able to see that once he'd calmed down (the fist in his face had helped the process along). She still wasn't speaking to him. She wasn't even acknowledging his existence. He didn't know where she disappeared to all the time and he never had a chance to find out. She had completely severed her end of their connection. He would never even know if she was killed since he couldn't feel her at all anyway and she was perfectly alive at the moment.

She came back every once in a while to see Draco. The boy absolutely loved her, and it seemed that his feelings were reciprocated on her part. They would go off in a corner together and talk and play. Draco made her laugh. It hurt Sirius even more than the silent treatment that he couldn't make her happy anymore. For over five years he had been the person she turned to for comfort, love, affection, and even comic relief. Now she wouldn't even look at him. One protective rage in favor of Narcissa and he had managed to push her so far away from him that he didn't know how to even start to get her back. He knew that he was completely in the wrong. Everything was completely his fault and she hadn't done anything to warrant what he had said to her or the way he had treated her. The past two days had been the hardest days he'd had to experience since Azkaban.

By the time he'd managed to pick himself up off the ground – his damaged leg had hindered him horribly – she'd already been gone. He had started to follow her, but at that moment had felt all connection to her severed. He'd almost collapsed right back onto the floor and started sobbing. It was the most horrible feeling he'd ever felt for her to not be in his heart and mind at all times. She'd been there for five years, and just like that she was gone. He hadn't been able to do anything else but go back to bed.

The night was a sleepless one. The pain in his leg was forgotten completely. He didn't even notice it anymore the entire night. His mind was in too much turmoil to recognize anything other than the pain he felt from being left all alone. He had stayed up all night worrying about her. He had wondered if she would ever come back. He'd worried himself literally to the point of being sick that she really would leave him for good. What felt like years – but in reality had only been a couple of hours – passed before he heard scuffling in the living room. He'd leapt out of bed and ran into the room hoping that maybe it was her. It wasn't.

Madam Pomfrey had been hovering over a sleeping Narcissa, apparently trying to decide if she was comfortable or not. She had looked up at him when he came thundering into the room, and her eyes had gone comically wide. She'd wanted to know how he'd managed to get a broken nose. He hadn't even realized it was broken. He had been tight-lipped about what had happened between him and Alex, and the healer had thought better of trying to interrogate him about it. She'd fixed his nose and cleaned up the blood that had poured from it – something he had also failed to notice – then she had given him the potion to get rid of the swelling. She had told him that she couldn't do anything about the two black eyes he was sporting because she had used all of the bruise-healing paste on Narcissa the night before. Sirius hadn't even felt rage at Lucius Malfoy when the subject came up. He didn't even care about the shiners. It was the least he deserved to get.

Now, days later, he was reduced to watching Alex from across the room. She never even spoke to him when they were discussing what to do about the three guests they had. He had even directly asked her several questions, only to have her ignore him and pay all of her attention to the other occupants of the room. They had decided that the three of them would stay until the day after Christmas. Neither Narcissa nor Draco wanted to go home to spend the holidays with Lucius, and Madam Pomfrey had readily agreed to grant them a few days away from the man. They were to floo directly into Dumbledore's office, which was sure to be opened in case Madam Pomfrey tried to either escape or get in touch with the headmaster for help. All three of them had proclaimed that they would tell their story exactly as it had happened, with the exception of Madam Pomfrey willingly going with Sirius Black since that would besmirch her reputation. Even the good publicity that he was sure to get from all three of them did nothing to cheer him up. He and Alex would have to leave immediately after they left since floos could be traced. He didn't know if he would be leaving alone or not. No, there was _nothing_ to be happy about.

In fact, nothing was able to cheer him up anymore. It was Christmas day and he was miserable. He had made sure to get presents for his three guests. Narcissa and Madam Pomfrey were both to receive items that were already kept in one vault of his or another, and Draco's he had gotten through owl order. He had one for Alex, too, but he wasn't sure that he should give it to her now. What it represented was apparently nothing she wanted anymore. So it was with a heavy heart that he rolled out of his cold, half empty bed when he heard the excited voices.

"Merry Christmas, Sirius!" greeted him in three different voices as he walked into the living room. Alex's voice was missing from the greeting, and he looked over to see her glaring at him in contempt from her place in the armchair.

His gaze was torn away from her when Madam Pomfrey's voice demanded his attention, "As Master of the House...er, room, I mean..."

As the mediwitch struggled over her words, Narcissa picked it up, "Sirius, dear, you must decide the agenda for today. Shall we eat first, or, perhaps, attend church?"

Draco made a horrified face behind his mother's back as attending church was mentioned, and Sirius had to fight to keep a straight face. Attending church on Christmas morning had always been a terrible thing to him when he was a child, too. His parents had always forced him to go to services, which were attended by anyone who was anyone in the wizarding world and therefore necessary to keep up appearances as respectable, and then eat a formal breakfast with the family before he was allowed to open presents. Santa Claus had never been a childhood reality to him as his parents thought it was too frivolous and that it would somehow soften him. He had no doubt that Lucius Malfoy had never allowed Draco to believe in Santa Claus either, so he really had no reason to let him open presents first since it wasn't like he thought someone had brought them down the chimney especially for him that morning. Draco, however, had other ideas. He was making wild gestures with his hands and silently mouthing the word "presents" behind his mother's back.

In the end, Sirius decided to give the boy a bit of joy, "Well, I don't see why we can't just open presents first!" at Narcissa's taken aback expression he added, "Come now, dear cousin, you can't honestly say that you want to sit there and stare at your gifts while you eat?"

She was about to retort, no doubt to demand that they follow their family tradition, but Draco beat her to the punch, "Mother, you can't argue! Sirius is in charge!"

Without waiting for anyone else to reply, the boy ran triumphantly for the stack of presents that had accumulated in front of the fireplace. There were no gifts there except for the ones from either Sirius or Alex, but presents were presents and Draco was excited. Narcissa intercepted him just before he went tearing into the pile, "Draco Malfoy, you will sit down and wait like a civilized boy!" That stopped him in his tracks, and his platinum head swivelled around to stare at his mother pitifully before he finally groaned in defeat and moved to sit with Alex in the armchair.

Sirius waited until the other two women were seated comfortably before he stepped forward to hand out the gifts. He knew that Narcissa would demand that they go one person at a time and that the eldest would go first. That's always how it had been done in the Black family. It was a competition to see who could get a person the best gift (though that wasn't an _official_ reason) so they went one person at a time so everyone could see who got what. Children were to be seen and not heard in their family, so they were forced to wait until the end when they could open presents among themselves and any older family members who didn't want to be forced to watch the kids could amuse themselves with something else without being rude. He sent Draco an apologetic and highly sympathetic look as he handed Madam Pomfrey her gift.

The woman looked surprised, "Oh, I didn't expect to get anything!" It was obvious that she was delighted that someone had thought of her, and she turned to read the name on the tag. She turned suspiciously watery eyes up at him, "Oh, you didn't have to, Sirius!"

"You've done a lot for me when you really should have turned me into the Ministry instead. It was the least I could do," he answered truthfully.

The woman opened the package carefully, and Sirius watched Draco fidget restlessly out of the corner of his eye. He could tell that the boy wanted to just teal the healer to hurry up already, but was restraining himself since his mother was there. Finally, Madam Pomfrey got her gift opened to reveal a book. She flipped through a few pages only to see that, contrary to the brand new bindings and paper, the book was handwritten and apparently extremely old if ye olde language was anything to go by. She looked up at him in question.

Sirius smiled, "It might not ever come in handy at your position at Hogwarts, but I figured it would be interesting information for you regardless of whether or not you ever apply it. I had a copy made of every account of every magical illness that anyone in my family ever wrote down. I read through a fraction of them once. There are some things in there that no one in our time has ever even _heard_ of. There are also some pretty funny cures for common afflictions that would get you sued nine ways from Sunday nowadays, but they're interesting to read about nonetheless. Just be sure you don't let just anyone get their hands on it...that's official Black family records you've got there."

Madam Pomfrey's eyes went all misty again, and she smiled at him shakily, "Thank you, Sirius. It's been a very long time since I've received a Christmas present from anyone not on the staff at Hogwarts. You don't know how much it means that you thought of me."

Sirius knew that he would never be able to grace her gratitude with a proper response, so he simply smiled at her. He was just about to turn back to give Narcissa her present when he was tapped on the shoulder. He looked around to see Draco holding out an envelope to him.

"Alex says to give it to Madam Pomfrey," the boy informed him.

Sirius had to fight through the pain in his chest that Alex wouldn't even speak to him enough to tell him something so simple. He took the letter from Draco, all the while hoping that no one noticed his suddenly trembling hand, and leaned over to hand it to the mediwitch. Everyone watched in curiosity as she opened her letter and began to read. The woman's face went through a myriad of different emotions, finally settling for what could only be described as touched.

She nodded her head at Alex, "This is more than enough, dear."

The two women shared eye contact for a moment, and everyone else was left out of the loop. Sirius decided that it must be something intimate for Alex not to just share it with the room in general, and decided that it was best not to pry into such a thing. Draco, however, didn't grasp the full meaning of privacy yet, and was on the verge of asking what the letter was all about.

Sirius cut him off just as his mouth opened by speaking to the boy's mother, "Here's one for you, Narcissa."

The blonde woman accepted the jewel case from him with a mildly surprised look, "Jewelry, Sirius? You know that I don't require such things for you to prove your devotion to me!"

He smiled slightly at her gentle teasing, "Just open it, Narcissa, and then you can decide whether you have any arguments about taking it or not."

She complied by lifting the lid gently. He watched as shock came over her features before her eyes shot to meet his, "Sirius!"

"You've been eyeing it since the first time you saw my mother wear it. It's been passed down through the women in her family for generations, you know. Since she didn't have any daughters, I'm sure she would want you to have it," he explained gently.

"Oh, Sirius, I just couldn't take it!" she exclaimed, "Bellatrix is oldest so she should get it by rights!"

Sirius frowned at the mention of the demented bitch, "Well, I don't like Bellatrix and she'd have no use for it in Azkaban anyway. I want you to have it. You'll appreciate it much more than your sister ever could."

Narcissa eyed the antique necklace for a few moments more. Finally, she breathlessly exclaimed, "Oh, I just love it! I don't know what to say!"

"You don't have to say anything," he informed her with a slight smile before turning to the bouncing boy in the armchair, "Now, Draco, I think you've been waiting long enough."

The boy practically ripped the present out of his hands and was already halfway done unwrapping it before he even had it properly settled in his lap. He shouted in delight as a broomstick was revealed to him. Sirius shook his head ruefully as the boy immediately begged him to enlarge it.

He grinned as he obliged the boy, "I felt bad since your last one has most likely been taken as evidence now. I couldn't just leave a strapping young lad such as yourself without a proper broomstick."

Narcissa had raised an eyebrow at him, "Family jewels are one thing, Sirius, but _honestly_ there was no need to spend a small fortune on the boy!"

"Sure there was," he retorted, "Like I said before, it's my fault he lost his last one." Draco was happily chatting to the room at large about what his new broom could do when Sirius happened to notice another present. He cut off the boy's prattling as he handed it to him, "Here, Draco, Alex got you a present."

He immediately stopped chatting about his broom, and turned wide grey eyes onto Alex, "You got me something?"

"Of course I did," she smiled at him, "Why wouldn't I?"

Draco smiled at her brightly as he tore into the package, but stopped short when he got a glimpse of what was inside. He lifted something out of the box, which allowed everyone else to see, too. It was a mirror.

Sirius immediately caught on, "Where did you find a pair?"

Alex completely ignored his question. Instead, she turned back to Draco, "They're two way mirrors. Now you can see me whenever you want. You just look into the mirror and say my name and I'll be there to talk to you."

"Really?" he asked softly.

"Really," she answered with a nod.

Everyone lapsed back into silence as Madam Pomfrey delved into her book and Narcissa fingered her necklace, still in a bit of shock about receiving it. Sirius and Alex's eyes met, and Sirius was still taken aback at the anger and utter contempt in her gaze. The other two women in the room knew that they were in a fight, and so had been pointedly looking away from them. No one mentioned the fact that neither of them had given the other a present. Well, except for Draco, who apparently just couldn't understand the situation.

It was Alex who caught him before the words fell out of his mouth, "Why don't you go into the other room so we can test the mirrors?"

Draco immediately did as he was asked, and the situation was diffused. Alex didn't meet his eyes again. Even all through breakfast she ignored every attempt he made at talking to her. She only stayed for a few minutes after the meal before she bid everyone goodbye and headed for the door. Sirius followed her out and gripped her arm to stop her from leaving. She stiffened, but didn't pull away.

He let go of her as soon as he thought she might stay, and she turned around to face him. He was taken aback once again by the anger in her eyes, but he knew that he deserved it. He didn't break eye contact as he spoke, ""I'm sorry, Alex. I know that doesn't make up for anything I said, but I _am_ sorry. You deserved to hear that whether you believe it or not."

She didn't respond for long seconds. With a sigh of acceptance, he turned around to let her go, but she finally stopped him with her words, "I know that you're sorry." He turned around hopefully as she went on, "I know that you didn't mean it. I know that you never would have done it...But even knowing all that doesn't make it okay. You _thought_ about it...you _said_ it...you _threatened_ me with it, Sirius. I'm not going to be okay with that."

"I don't expect you to be," he heaved a sigh and ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "Are you coming with me tomorrow?"

She looked taken aback for a moment, "I...Sirius..."

"Promise me that you will," he cut off her floundering. She stared at him in shock, and he could see the anger welling up in her eyes again. He stopped her from speaking again as he desperately pleaded with her, "I don't expect anything of you, especially not for you to stay with me. I just have to know that you're safe. Promise me that you'll come with me tomorrow just for my peace of mind...even if it's just for long enough to get away from here."

She studied him closely for a few moments, but finally seemed to come to a decision, "I'll come with you tomorrow, but that in no way means you're forgiven."

"I don't ever expect to be forgiven, Alex," he chuckled somewhat bitterly. With that, he turned around to walk back into room. With one last plea of, "Be safe," he disappeared behind the door.

--------------------

The bed was cold and lonely. Alex was chillingly reminded of the forty-six days and nights she had spent without Sirius when the whole fiasco with the Potters had happened. She'd never thought she'd spend a single night without him after she got him back, but she couldn't bring herself to be near him right now. She had trusted him more than she'd ever thought it possible to trust someone, and he had shattered her confidence in him. Oh, she still knew without a doubt that he would protect her in any way possible from danger. The question was if he could protect either of them from himself.

The frozen feeling in her chest refused to go away. The moment he'd threatened to give her an order to let him go after Lucius Malfoy a fear had seized her. Did he not realize exactly what he had threatened her with? He had threatened to control her in the same way that any of the other men would have! He, who she had trusted with everything she was and everything she had, had dared to even _think_ about ordering her about like she was no better than Voldemort's whore! And, fuck it all! She'd still been worried about him after he had done it! The one thought in the forefront of her mind had still been stopping him from getting himself killed!

His apology the morning before had, indeed, been something she needed to hear. Not that it in any way helped her get over what he had said, but it did prove that he hadn't really meant a word he'd said about ordering her around. Sirius Black never apologized to anyone whether or not he was in the wrong. Not including that awful time at Godric's Hollow, he'd only apologized to her for real twice. What he had said about not expecting to ever be forgiven had gone a long way in getting himself back in her good graces. She'd seen his face, and he had been truly depressed when he'd said it. He hadn't just said it to get her to feel sorry for him, she was sure of that.

Alex didn't know what she was doing anymore. The first night she had been too scared of what he had implicated to want to be anywhere near him. That and the fact that she didn't want to sit there and watch him go off to his certain death had led her to leave him. It had been several nights since then, and now she wasn't sure why she didn't just go back. They both knew that she wasn't going to forgive him for what he'd said, but they also both knew that she wasn't going to stop loving him. She couldn't sleep without him, couldn't stop thinking about him, couldn't go an hour without wanting his opinion on something. She wanted desperately to go back to him, but she wanted even more the assurance that he would never even _want_ to use his position as her lover against her.

The alarm clock went off on the bedside table. She rolled over – noting the emptiness of the bed once more – and turned it off even as stumbled to the floor. She hadn't slept at all and she was exhausted, but she had to get up. Draco was leaving today. He was going back to that monster he called a father. He was going back to a life where he was expected to grow up too soon. In fact, she doubted he'd ever been allowed to be a child at all with a father like Lucius Malfoy. She genuinely liked the boy, and she was going to be there to see him off and say goodbye.

He apparently wanted to say goodbye to her just as much as she wanted to say it to him. He was waiting anxiously by the door when she walked in. No sooner had she opened the door than Draco had his arms around her waist in a desperate hug. She swung the door closed and put her arms around him in return. Narcissa waited several seconds before calling Draco over, saying it was time to go.

The frantic shaking of his head caused Alex some surprise. She kneeled down to his level and met his suspiciously watery gaze, "What's wrong, Draco?"

"I don't want to leave. I don't want to go back home," he declared quietly, "I don't want to leave you or Sirius. You're my friends."

Alex smiled at him, "I don't want you to leave either, but you have to. We'll see each other again, I promise. Until then we can just talk to each other on the mirrors."

Draco looked slightly relieved at both her promise and at the mention of the mirrors, but his voice was still shaky when he spoke, "I still don't want to go back home."

"You have to go home, though," Alex suddenly lit on an idea, "What about Blaise? You can't leave your best friend just because you found two new friends, Draco." The boy talked about his best friend all the time. Every other sentence he uttered had some reference to Blaise.

Her plan worked when Draco's eyes widened, "Oh, I almost forgot about that! I guess I do have to go back then. We still have to practice together and go to Hogwarts together and be on the quidditch team together and pull pranks together and go to Hogsmeade together and..."

"Draco!" his mother cut him off from her place beside the fireplace, "It's time to go, darling."

"We have to go _right_ this second?" the boy asked pitifully.

Madam Pomfrey was the one who answered him, "Oh, yes, we have to go before breakfast starts. We can't disrupt the day, and we'd surely disrupt everyone's schedules if we showed up at any other time."

"How about after dinner?" Draco asked hopefully.

Narcissa had on her best "mom face" as she spoke, "No, Draco, we can't go another day letting everyone worry over us."

Draco took her hand and led her across the room with him. He came to a stop beside Sirius and turned around to hug both of them again as Madam Pomfrey flooed away. Alex was startled when she heard Sirius's voice for the first time that morning, "Go on, Draco. The sooner you go the sooner I can start missing you and send you a gift."

Sirius's words had the desired effect when the boy started laughing. He stepped back from both of them with a half smile, "It has to be a really big present."

Narcissa started to reprimand her son for saying such a thing, but Sirius waved her off. "Oh, it'll be a _very_ big present. You can bet that it'll make Blaise jealous."

Over the course of the last few days it had been determined that Draco wouldn't be able to keep anything a secret from his best friend. They had also been assured by the boy that Blaise would never tell anyone anything. Sirius had decided that it wouldn't matter if the boy _did_ try to rat them out to the Ministry since it wasn't like he would know their location anyway.

Alex hugged Draco one last time and they said their final goodbyes before he stepped into the fireplace and flooed away. Narcissa, who had waited until last in case Draco said the wrong location and she needed to go after him, finally turned to Sirius and wrapped her arms around him. Alex bristled, but quickly fought down the urge to rip the woman away from him. They were cousins, after all, so the woman wouldn't try anything with him.

Not a moment too soon for Alex, they moved apart as Narcissa spoke, "Thank you for everything, Sirius. You've been wonderful."

"It was the least I could do, Narcissa. I couldn't leave you to die," he kissed her cheek and nudged her towards the fireplace, "Your son will only be able to hold off Dumbledore from coming after me for so long." Narcissa nodded and stepped into the green flames. With a nod in Alex's direction, she was gone.

Alex's eye riveted to Sirius as soon as Narcissa was gone. He was already staring at her. Their gazes met and held for several long seconds before he reached out to take her hand, "We should go. I've already got everything."

She didn't speak, but took his hand. Sparks flew between them as soon as their skin touched. It had been too long without physical contact between them. Each of their magic was calling for the other. Neither of them was able to move or look away at the feeling. It was only when a burst of wind came from the fireplace and the flames shot up high that they were torn away from each other's eyes. No sooner had she glanced at the figure coming out of the fireplace than she felt herself being swept up. She knew that Sirius had managed to snap out of his daze enough to teleport them away.

--------------------

Alex had known when she had first said it that it was going to be hard to leave him again. As Sirius mechanically separated all of her stuff from his she knew that it would be _very_ hard. She watched him work and he looked as if he was on autopilot. Finally, he turned to look at her with the most mournful look she had ever seen. He motioned to her stuff and opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He stared at her for several more seconds with his mouth open ready to say something before he snapped it shut and turned around.

Alex's breath caught in her throat as he turned away from her, and she knew that it would be impossible for her to cause him this much pain when he was so sorry. She stopped him with a whispered, "Sirius..."

He stopped immediately and spun around to face her. He took one look at her pained expression and he had his arms around her. He kissed her hair and her face in between muttered words, "Oh, Love, I'm so sorry. Please don't go. Please give me another chance. I couldn't take it if you left me for good."

"I love you," she wrapped her arms around his neck as he kissed her fully on the mouth.

Their connection flew wide opened as they kissed, and Alex knew that she wouldn't be able to leave again. She could feel how sorry he was, how _scared_ he was. He was so afraid that she was going to walk away. More importantly, she felt how much he loved her. His mouth was hot and hard against hers as she finally gave in and parted her lips to grant him access. The sweep of his tongue against hers snapped her out of her thoughts and made her hyper aware of him.

She pressed herself closer against him, and he groaned. Finally, he pulled his mouth far enough away from hers to whisper, "I want you so bad."

She could feel his lips brushing against hers as he spoke, and there was no other answer to give him except for one. "Then take me," she pushed herself as far up as she could to capture his lips again. Their lips broke apart as he lifted her shirt over her head and shoved her skirt off of her hips. She kicked the garment away and felt the urge to kiss him again, although she was much too short to accomplish it.

Her height dilemma was soon taken care of when he wrapped his arms further around her and pressed his mouth down into hers. She pushed him backwards until he hit the wall, and he picked her up to reach her easier. He only went a few seconds before he spun them around and pressed her back against the wall. Her legs came around him automatically to hold herself up, and now that her hands were free she reached down for his belt buckle. She smiled against his mouth as she finally got his jeans undone...he had an aversion against undergarments.

He broke away from the kiss and groaned at her touch. He literally ripped away the bit of lace separating them and was inside of her before her overloaded mind had time to process what he was doing. She caught on to him as soon as he moved again, and her hands replaced themselves on his shoulders.

Her back being pressed harder and harder into the wall dampened the effect that he had on her, and she managed to bite out, "Couch."

She was looking over his shoulder to see it, and it was the only word she could manage to say at that point. Luckily, his pleasure induced mind managed to process what she had said. He took his hands off of the wall and wrapped them around her back to support her as he turned around and walked the few steps it took to reach the edge of the sofa. The experience was completely new to her, and she sighed into his neck the entire way. When he finally settled them down on the couch, she couldn't help the moan that accompanied the feeling. It only took a few more movements on his part to send her over the edge.

As she came down and became more aware of her surroundings, his heavy pants registered in her mind. She opened her eyes to meet his, and moved her hands from his shoulders to wrap around him instead. She gripped the fabric of his shirt, which had managed to evade removal, and yanked it over his head so she could feel his skin against hers more fully. Even in her hazy, pleasure-laden mind she realized that she was dangerously close to the edge of the couch. The idea struck her immediately, and she smiled to herself even as his movements caused her to moan again.

"Sirius, wait," she bit out finally.

He stopped almost immediately, but his expression was incredulous as he looked at her, clearly demanding that she let him get on with it. While he was distracted with confusion, she used all of her strength to flip him over. He rolled off of the couch, and she followed him happily, landing sprawled on top of him. She didn't wait for him to realize what had happened before she moved against him.

If the ragged groan that was ripped from his throat was any indication, then she knew that he didn't mind the reversal of positions at all. His head was thrown back in rapture, his mouth opened in constant groans and his hair mussed up wildly. Quite suddenly, his hands gripped her hips and forced her down roughly. A scream in the form of his name was torn from her as she came undone again. He growled savagely as he joined her in her euphoria.

The minutes passed by with no recognition from either of them. Finally, a softer groan escaped from his throat, "I like make up sex."

She laughed from her place resting against his sweaty chest, "You'd better never even _think_ about doing what you did again. You won't get sex again _ever_ – of _any_ kind – from me if you do."

"Oh, don't worry," he began rubbing her back, "I'll think of other ways to make you mad. It'll be worth it if this is how we're going to make up."

"Mmmhmm," Alex sighed against his skin, "It was _really_ good."

Sirius suddenly rolled them over so that he was on top. He looked down at her with mischievous eyes, "Want to go again?"

The surprise at his actions was quickly forgotten as she became aware that he was, indeed, ready to have another go. What else could she say to him? She grinned, "Okay."

--------------------

A/N: Well, there's the scene to make up for all the other times I've left one out. I really couldn't leave them mad at each other as we move onto the next section...And oh my God, we're finally finished with Part One! Next chapter starts Part Two, which is really the part that I've been waiting for...


	30. Chocolate for Breakfast

A/N: Ah, a long note reminiscent of the first chapter's in honor of a new section of the story...some pretty good explanations here, though. So this starts in the summer of 1991, which is Harry's first year at Hogwarts. This is some six years after the events in Chapter Twenty-Nine...just for people who are horrible with dates. I'm wonderful at math, but make it into a year and I have to work it out on paper or else I second guess myself for some reason, so I didn't want to have anyone confused. I figured you wouldn't want to take the time to write it down yourself if you **are** confused, so there you go with an official, double-checked, author-certified date to add to your mental time line.

The first thing you'll probably notice is that Alex is a little more "dark" than she used to be. Sirius is his same old self, albeit a lot more bitter and _tired_ (for lack of a better word). Well, if you'd been on the run from everyone for an entire decade when you were innocent you'd be cynical, bitter, and at least a little bit "dark", too. Granted, Sirius really had killed people (_well_ over thirteen of them, which is what he was accused of) before he ever went to Azkaban...but being on the run from your former friends (the Order) for_ betraying your **best** **friend**_ when you would have _never_ done such a thing is enough to account for his bitterness towards the world. Not to mention the fact that he's found out Dumbledore _might_ have turned James against him and convinced the man to work against him (see Chapter Twenty-Three if you don't know what I'm talking about), so he no longer trusts _anything_ he lived by in the past. Alex, on the other hand, had never done anything wrong or killed anyone unless it was in self defense. Now that she is on the run and to the Ministry is officially Sirius Black's murder accomplice, why wouldn't she go a little crazy about it? Keep in mind, also, that she doesn't trust people at all and (other than Sirius) Draco and Madam Pomfrey are the only people who she has allowed to touch her in years because she's afraid to be touched (it brings back memories of being restrained and hurt, like she has been many times). Like Sirius stated earlier, she's kind of like a dog that's been beaten...it will shy away from people, but if cornered it'll probably attack the person before he or she can have the opportunity to beat it again.

On a side note...Sirius is thirty-one at this point with his thirty-second birthday about four months _away_. Alex has just turned twenty-seven about four months _ago_. I know in the beginning that I might have said one or two things to make Sirius seem younger than he was...but then I read something J.K.R. said about him being "about twenty-two" when he went to Azkaban, so I went back to double-check myself. After I went back to look at the official time line and did all the math in my head it all worked out for when Snape said he was thirty-five in OotP. Now, let me **officially** say that in my story Sirius was twenty-two with his twenty-third birthdayabout a month away when he was imprisoned. Alex was sixteen when she met Sirius, but her seventeenth birthday was a few days after she was captured for the first time and being held at one of the Black houses (see Chapter Five).

Now a bunch of people will be like "oh, Sirius isn't the hot show pony he used to be" as if being over thirty automatically subtracts at least five points from a 1-10 rating (which is completely ridiculous, but I guess if you are young enough you might think that way with no problem)...Keep in mind, though, that they don't age physically...so they still look the same as they did the first time they made love (he was 22, she was 17) what with the prophecy and ancient magic and stuff involved in there...Although they are **not** immortal...stab them in the heart, drop them in a volcano, or chop off their head and they'll still die. They just don't age physically, so they'll live forever if their health is left up to it...Even Sirius's drinking won't effect him. Since his liver and everything else don't age they can't be effected by something that takes time to develop (lucky for him, or he'd probably die before he was forty just from the effects of drinking).

Oh, and I personally really don't like the first part of this chapter. It's definitely not up to par with my personal standards. Just soldier on through it if you don't like it either, and I promise that it gets better the further you go along. It has Draco later! What isn't great about that!

**Part Two: Sirius Black vs. the World**

--------------------

Chapter Thirty

(July, 1991)

The building was just a normal apartment building to passers-by. It was an old building – a five story walk up – made of industrial brick which was dirty and a little grimy due to years of vehicle exhaust from the streets below. It was in perfect condition, though, and would be a fine place to live if you could manage to obtain a flat there. The problem was that no space ever seemed to be available, not that it was very surprising considering the good neighborhood and large apartments. It was just that no one in their right mind would ever vacate such a lot, or so stated public opinion.

Muggles, however, often don't notice anything odd. They usually just see what they want to see. If anyone had ever noticed that you almost never see any of the occupants entering or leaving the building, they didn't mention it to anyone else. It apparently wasn't noticeable that every shade in every window was always closed. If the tenants of any of the other buildings in the neighborhood thought it strange that none of the noise generally associated with apartment dwelling could ever be heard then they didn't say anything. Obviously everyone who lived in the building didn't have jobs or feel the need to go outside; they were all private people who neither wanted neighbors spying into their windows nor ever felt the need to look out themselves; and they all disliked listening to loud music, never shouted, didn't have any playful children, and didn't have any pets.

It had been quite by a stroke of luck that Sirius Black found out the truth about the apartment building. Sometimes people don't think about who might be listening when they speak in public. Death eaters were no exception. Either that or they just figured that everyone in Knockturn Alley was on their side, and so it wasn't necessary in the least to censure their conversations when they were there. What they didn't know was that Sirius had been visiting such places for years now to keep his ear to the ground. Visiting the alley had once led him to save his cousins' lives, so he didn't want to miss anything important if it was in his power to stop it. He didn't visit Knockturn Alley in particular too much, since it was too close to Diagon Alley for any of the visitors to really feel confident that the Ministry wouldn't drop in at any time. Every magical community in the different countries usually had their own shopping centers (not everyone in the world could go to Diagon Alley) and also had their own places equivalent to Knockturn Alley. Both Sirius and the death eaters frequented those places, and Sirius had picked up a lot of useful information over the years.

It was fortunate that he had decided to finally pay a much needed visit to the dark hub of wizarding London, because otherwise he doubted that he ever would have found out about the building in a quiet neighborhood in the outskirts of the city that was owned by death eaters. Well, owned isn't the correct term...killing the previous owner doesn't mean that you own it by default, after all. If that were the case then Sirius would own a lot of buildings he neither needed nor wanted. As it was, he'd overheard two sinister figures in Knockturn Ally talking. One had been bragging to his friend about an invitation he had received from Nott to a little get together the "old group" was having. The conversation was still fresh in his mind:

-----------------

_Sirius was staking out Borgin and Burkes for anything unsavory or sinister. Really, though, that couldn't be given as a job description since **everything** and **everyone** in the store was both of those things. In truth he was just hanging about the shop hoping that someone would come in and buy something that would lead him to believe that they were planning something. The run-of-the-mill items were dark artifacts, true, and also rather dangerous, but their uses weren't anything harmful to the community at large. There were very few items that could be used to cause death or destruction on a large group of people at once, which is pretty much the definition of a death eater attack._

_It was when a man, apparently pretty young (not over thirty) came in that he_ _finally got his lead. The man purchased a hand of glory – a withered human hand that, when lit up by a candle, made everyone present except the lighter fall into an enchanted sleep. This told Sirius two things: that the individual had a lot of money at his disposable and that he was going to have a need to put a group of people to sleep for something. Sirius followed the man out of the store, using the many shadows to keep from being noticed by the person he was stalking._

_They ended up in a very disreputable bar even for Knockturn Alley standards. Sirius chose a table directly behind the man he had followed, who had sat down with another man who looked to be the same age. They were apparently friends if their informal greeting and easy manners with each other were anything to go by._

"_What do you have there?" the newest man motioned towards the bag the other man had obtained from Borgin and Burkes._

_The man Sirius had followed suddenly dawned a prideful demeanor. "Hand of glory," he answered in what was supposed to be a casual voice, but was obviously proud._

_His companion gawked at him, "What'd you go and spend so much money on one of those for?"_

_The look of arrogance on the original man's face was clearly visible now. "I was invited to a little get together," he was clearly bragging._

"_Oh?" his friend asked, "Who's having a party?"_

"_Nott," was the answer._

_The other man raised his eyebrows, "I take it this is a very **special** get together if he's having it?"_

_He had given his friend leave to give all of the details, which the man took enthusiastically, "Nott **acquired** a building on the outskirts of the city from a muggle he killed. At first he just donated it as a hiding place for those in our ranks who are on the run, but Malfoy had the **best** idea..."_

"_What was his idea?" the other man asked eagerly._

"_We're going to use it as a prison for muggles! Honestly, the Ministry will **never** look for us death eaters in a muggle neighborhood, so we can play with the captives all we like instead of having to kill them fast!" the first man replied in excitement._

_They chatted in anticipation of all of the opportunities for fun they would have while Sirius sat there in disgust. Eventually, another question caught his attention again, "So what d'ya need a hand of glory for?"_

"_Everyone has to bring in a new prisoner, and then we'll draw numbers for which one we get to pick the first method of torture for," his friend explained in obvious anticipation of the event, "I need it to capture mine."_

_Sirius almost blew his cover when he heard that comment. They were having a **drawing** for muggle prisoners? How utterly fucked up! He listened in absolute disbelief as the two death eaters chatted about it for a little while longer. Finally, the one he had followed looked at his watch and announced that he was going to be late if he didn't get going._

_Sirius followed the man around for the rest of the afternoon. He had apparently already chosen his target, and Sirius sat back to watch him use his hand of glory to help him kidnap a pretty young woman from her home. He had no intention of actually letting the death eaters torture these people, but he couldn't interfere with the man until he'd led him to this building he spoke of._

--------------------

It hadn't taken very long for the young death eater to lead Sirius to the apartment building. Sirius had to admit that Malfoy was smart as hell for having thought up his idea. The man was very good at covering his own ass. The location was not one that the Ministry would ever think to check in for death eater activity. Even if someone tipped them off and they _did_ check, Malfoy and his friends could in no way be connected to any unsavory events unless they were caught red-handed. Their names were in no way attached to the building since it officially belonged to a muggle. They had enough influence – and good enough lawyers if it came that far – to make sure that they wouldn't have to take a truth serum, or at least Malfoy did and it isn't like he _really_ cared about any of the others.

Sirius had no doubt that there would be horrific happenings in that building tonight, and that was assuming that they weren't already going on. He had teleported back to the hotel room in Prague to retrieve Alex, who got _very_ livid if he left her out of his adventures, and they were currently standing across the street from their target.

"What are we supposed to do?" Alex asked him as she stared through narrowed eyes at the brick structure, "You're not going to talk me into just running in there screaming and throwing hexes at anything that moves."

Sirius laughed out loud at her reference to a particularly amusing incident that had happened in Amsterdam, "It isn't my fault that we aren't compatible drunks. I think up crazy ideas when I'm drunk, and you're easily talked into doing just about anything when you're drunk."

She scowled at him for a few moments before asking again, "You _do_ have a plan, right?"

"Yes, actually. It might come as a surprise to you, but I **am** a very competent felon," he matched her expression with a bad-tempered one of his own, "Just follow my lead, and when the time comes you take care of the prisoners while I play with the death eaters."

"Why do _you_ get to play?" she crossed her arms.

Sirius couldn't resist leaning forward to capture her pouting lips with his own mouth. He pulled back shortly, though, in order to answer her, "I get to play because this is _my_ mission. When _you_ find something for us to do then _you_ can decide who gets to do what."

"Well, it might be easier if you'd actually let me spy," she snapped irritably.

Sirius wasn't very keen on getting into this argument again. He couldn't exactly lock her up, of course, but he did ask her to stay behind when he went to eavesdrop in dark alleys. Was it really his fault that he was overprotective of her? He couldn't help it at all that he didn't want to put her in harm's way any more than necessary. The only reason he bothered to ask if she wanted to come with him when he did jobs was because she got furious at him if he left her out of the loop. A furious Alex isn't a companionable Alex, and he didn't even get to sleep in the same room as her when she was mad at him (luckily that hadn't happened in years). Even when he let her come along on his killing sprees, he always gave her the safest jobs he could think of. There were two things he didn't want to happen: he didn't want her to get hurt and he didn't want to get hurt himself because he was protecting her. Twice was _far_ more than enough times to not want to get hit with the Killing Curse again, and he definitely didn't want Alex to experience that pain. Any other dark curses they could possibly inflict wouldn't exactly be a walk in the park either, but it was the Killing Curse that he was most worried about.

And so, instead of arguing with her about it, he simply started walking across the deserted street. She followed him, all the while muttering something about pigs, men, and pricks that he was very glad he couldn't completely decipher. She stopped mumbling to herself and lapsed into silence as they finally reached their destination. He was relieved to find out that she wasn't really very mad at him when she stopped him just before he opened the door.

She pulled his head down quite suddenly and unexpectedly and kissed him passionately. When she finally pulled back, she caressed his face with her hand as he stood straight up again. A whispered, "Be careful, Sirius," was all that he got before she directed her eyes back to the door and waited for him to open it.

With a deep breath, he did just that. Surprisingly, there were no guards in sight. Sirius could only assume that they hadn't felt the need to guard this building since they were so confident that they wouldn't be discovered here. He brought on Padfoot's senses as they walked through the hall slowly.

As they mounted the first flight of stairs, Alex's voice was suddenly in his head, "_Aren't we going to look for people in any of the rooms down here?_"

"_No,_" he thought back to her, "_They wouldn't put prisoners so near the front door_."

Alex nodded and stuck close to his back as they climbed the staircase. He stopped at the top of the stairs and listened for movement for a few seconds before he determined that there wasn't anyone being kept on this floor either. They had climbed all the way up to the fifth floor without finding any sign of other people at all. Sirius could only deduce that this was the first time they had put Malfoy's plan into action. They were probably breaking in their first crop of prisoners tonight.

He squeezed Alex's hand in reassurance, "_Remember to keep the muggles away from the battle. I don't want to be distracted when I'm battling this 'old crowd' of death eaters_."

She didn't respond to him with either thoughts or words, but she did squeeze his hand back before letting go. He began to prepare himself for battle as they walked carefully down the corridor. The closer they got to the end, the more sounds he was able to pick up. Shuffling and struggling were predominant, but a few sobs and sniffles could also be made out quite easily. He nodded towards the door the sounds were coming from to indicate to Alex where they were going. She nodded her understanding, and he put up a shield in front of himself as he blew the door opened.

Luckily his shield wasn't needed as there weren't any death eaters in the room. They stepped into the room only to find it devoid of anyone except the muggles tied up in various positions against the walls. A quick head count revealed that there were thirteen of them (a nice, round, death eater type number in Sirius's opinion). The prisoners were all different kinds of people: children, beautiful young adults, middle aged women, old men, and everything in between.

Alex moved further into the room, and Sirius turned around and pressed his back against hers so he could watch the door while she was taking everything in. She stood still for a few seconds – long enough to take a headcount – and then she left him by the door as she walked closer to the prisoners to undo their bonds.

"_We should just take them and leave. We might have a chance of not being caught_," she said into his head.

He sighed as he thought back, "_Well we **could**, but I **really** want to play with the death eaters_."

Alex rolled her eyes as she replied, "_Yes, Sirius, we'll stay behind and put ourselves in danger just so you can rip a few death eaters to shreds_."

He huffed at her, "_Well, it's been a long time_!"

"It's been three weeks!" she stood from the ropes she was severing through in order to place her hands on her hips and glare at him.

"Exactly!" he turned to look at her briefly before turning his attention back to the door, "I have three weeks worth of pent up energy."

Everyone in the room was silent, and he realized suddenly that they had begun speaking out loud again. He sighed to her in a clear "see what you did!" manner, and motioned for her to return to her job of untying the prisoners.

The peace lasted for almost an entire minute before he heard a door open. He didn't say anything for a few seconds, but it couldn't be avoided as the footsteps kept getting closer and closer. He started heading for the door even as he spoke out loud to Alex, "Stay in here. I'll be fine."

She didn't reply to him, but he knew that she would listen to him unless she felt through their connection that he was hurt. He stepped out into the hallway, making sure the door slammed shut and locked behind him. The cloaked figures in the hallway had stopped short upon seeing him, but it didn't last very long at all.

Three of the figures cast curses at almost the same time, and Sirius was hard-pressed to dodge them in the narrow space he had available. He immediately cast curses of his own back at them, hitting two of the ones up front. The third dodged it, and it hit the man standing directly behind him. He really couldn't avoid the lights rushing at him from the ten different wizards. He managed to dive out of the way of a couple of them and deflect a few more, but the majority of them hit him right on.

He was sent to the ground as one of the spells that hit him caused his legs to give out from underneath him, and he didn't wait to find out the effects of any of the other ones as he sent a series of his own hexes and curses into the group of death eaters that was advancing on him. He managed to take down three more of the death eaters, which left seven of them still rushing right at him.

He regained his footing as he dodged more curses. He was just relieved that they were trying to detain him instead of trying to kill him. Getting hit by seven killing curses would make him _want_ to die. He was in his element as he fought, although it wasn't really as fun as a normal fight since he only had a limited space to work with. He quickly tired of playing as one of the death eater's masks came undone as he rolled out of the way of a curse.

Grey eyes met grey eyes as Lucius Malfoy and Sirius Black stared at each other. The hatred running between the two was obvious to all present, and everyone else stopped to watch as they faced off in the middle of the hallway. Their duel was just about to start when another of the death eaters took the opportunity to shoot a beam of green light right at Sirius when he was distracted. Luckily, his sensitive canine hearing picked up on the muttered words, and he dove to the ground just as it whizzed over his head and hit another death eater who was in its path.

Sirius decided that he wanted nothing more than Lucius Malfoy dead at that point. It didn't matter _how_ he died, so Sirius would just have to give up his one on one duel with him. Instead, he brought on the energy required to cast the spell he had invented all those years ago. It had been a long time since he'd used it anyways. As the explosion echoed through the corridor, Sirius quickly took off Padfoot's senses.

As the sounds died away, Sirius lifted his head up to survey the damage. He'd only been able to aim his curse at the death eaters standing up, and they were completely gone. Nothing but the occasional piece here and there was left. The rest of the death eaters who had already been on the ground were all lying motionless and covered in the remains of their companions just as Sirius was. He stood up with a sigh and cast several cleaning spells on himself until all of the blood and other _stuff_ was completely washed off of him. He grimaced as he walked through the mush towards the door where Alex was.

--------------------

Alex was listening intently to the battle going on just outside of the door. She wanted nothing more than to join him, but the frightened expressions on the faces around the room stopped her from leaving them alone...damn her conscience to hell...Why couldn't she be like Sirius? He didn't have a conscience. He just liked any excuse to attack death eaters.

The explosion caused everyone to jump in surprise and fear. Alex felt her chest tighten in fear. Almost a full minute of complete silence went by before the door to the room swung opened. Everyone tensed in fright and anticipation, but in the end it was unwarranted. Alex's heart leapt and she sighed a breath of pure relief as Sirius walked into the room. She was standing in front of him in the next instant checking him over for injuries. He had a few scrapes and bruises, but was otherwise perfectly fine as far as she could tell.

He accepted her into his embrace and then addressed the room at large, "They're gone. It's safe for you to leave now."

Alex tipped her head back to look into his face without having to give up her position so close to him (her head barely reached his chest). He looked like he was completely serious. He was really going to leave the people to fend for themselves. Oh well, it wasn't like they were going to get killed by little chunks of death eater. Although maybe they shouldn't be forced to walk _through_ chunks of death eater all by themselves.

Apparently the muggles hadn't figured out that their saviors were going to leave them so soon. An elderly man stepped forward and grasped Sirius's hand, "Thank you, sir." Sirius frowned and pulled his hand away, but the man wasn't deterred and reached for Alex's hand next. She pressed herself closer to Sirius (if that was possible) and glared. Sirius took her hint and moved between her and the man.

One young woman didn't seem to get that Alex didn't want to be touched, however, and ran up on her other side to pull her into an embrace. The second the woman's skin touched Alex's she yanked away with a scream of pain. Alex, who had just come out of the shock of the unexpected physical contact, was finally able to react and spun around and backhanded the already-in-pain woman. The force of the blow sent her across the room, and the other occupants of the room turned to stare with the fear renewed in their eyes.

Alex could clearly read in their minds that they thought she and Sirius were going to hurt them. Several of the men charged them, presumably to protect themselves and the other people in the room. Sirius used the arm he had around her to pick her up and move her behind him even as he fluidly used his other arm to land a blow on the side of one of the men's face. The bone could be heard cracking, and Alex deduced from the position of Sirius's hit that the man's jaw had been broken. The second man landed a punch to the side of Sirius's face, making his head snap to the side. Sirius stood his ground completely, however, and turned his head slowly back to see the man just as he threw his fist right into the center of the man's face. The nose could be heard breaking, and the man cried out and staggered backwards.

Sirius reached behind him for the doorknob, but Alex stopped him, "I don't want to walk through death eater guts!"

"It isn't just guts, Love," Sirius informed her loud enough for the muggles to hear, too, "There's also blood, brains, bits of intact body parts here and there, and don't forget the other _stuff_, though I'm not quite sure what _it_ is."

The horrified, disgusted, shocked, and nauseated faces of everyone in the room were well worth having to hear the gory details. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her head against his back as she smiled, "Get me out of here."

The familiar feel of teleporting came not even a second later.

--------------------

The process of waking was slow for Alex. She stretched languidly and a self-satisfied sigh escaped her lips. She rolled over only to see that Sirius had already vacated the bed. She seriously contemplated calling out for him, but in the end she decided that he wouldn't have left her alone without waking her if he hadn't had a good reason for doing it. She rolled out of bed with a moan as what felt like every joint in her body popped and every muscle stretched. She padded out of the bedroom without bothering to put clothes on since she couldn't see any of Sirius's shirts in the immediate vicinity anyway.

He was sitting at the kitchen table facing away from her and already nursing a bottle of Fire Whiskey as she reached the kitchen. He was wearing nothing but a pair of ratty, threadbare sweat pants. She walked up and wrapped her arms around his neck as she purred in his ear, "Hello, lover."

Sirius grabbed one of her arms and brought her around to sit in his lap. He raised his eyebrows at her state of undress, and she grinned cheekily at him as she leaned forward to lick a stray piece of chocolate off of his cheek. He sighed and reprimanded her humorously, "Naked and licking me so early in the morning?"

"Eating chocolate for breakfast?" she retorted in her best disapproving voice. She would have mentioned his drinking so early in the morning, but she had grown too used to it in the last years. She knew he wouldn't listen to her bitching about it.

His hands started to explore her bare form as his eyes roamed over her unabashedly. She pinched him to get his attention, and he finally answered her, "Draco sent some of the chocolate he got from Switzerland."

"Draco?" Alex perked up and looked around for a letter. She had been waiting for him to write them ever since they'd mutually decided that he should. Once he went off to school at the end of the summer there would be too many people about for them to risk using the two way mirrors, so they'd decided that they would have to start corresponding by owl post. She spotted the note lying on the counter along with an opened box, presumably of the chocolate he had sent. She struggled to move away from Sirius's grip, but he wouldn't let her go.

She jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow, and he finally sobered. He summoned the letter into his hand, and offered it to her apologetically. She kissed him softly to make up for elbowing him. He tasted like whiskey and something else that was purely _him_. Finally, she pulled away and then turned to read Draco's letter:

_Sirius and Alex,_

_Mother finally talked Father into accepting my position at Hogwarts instead of shipping me off to Durmstrang. I was even able to convince Father that I really wanted to go to Durmstrang like you told me I should, Sirius. I have to say that you're really good at pretending to be like **them**, but I guess it comes from years of practice. He actually thinks that I believe all of the utter dung he stuffs down my throat._

_My Hogwarts letter finally arrived a few days ago. I told my mother that I wanted to go shopping on the 31st because Father probably won't want to go. He always mopes around the house and drinks on that day because it's Harry Potter's birthday. Speaking of Harry Potter...Father actually wants me to make friends with him! Can you believe that! I can't imagine why he would want me to make friends with someone that he hates, but my father always was a little unhinged if you ask me._

_Anyway, I was just writing to ask you if you wanted to meet me in Diagon Alley. I don't know if it would be safe enough for you, but I would really like it if you could come. It's been six years since the last time we saw each other in person! _

_Oh, and I hope you enjoy the chocolate I sent you. I got it when we were on holiday in Switzerland and thought you might like some. I know that you love sweets, Alex._

_ Draco _

Alex looked up at Sirius with the question shining brightly in her eyes. She knew that she was bouncing in anticipation of his answer, and he looked amused. Finally, he replied, "I don't see why we can't go."

She couldn't help the girlish squeal that erupted from her mouth. She was going to get to see Draco!She had really missed the boy over the years. Talking in a mirror is in no way anything like seeing each other in person. She wanted to actually be able to hug him. He was the only person other than Sirius she had ever _wanted_ to touch, and it had been six years since she could!

She immediately summoned over a piece of paper and a pen off of the coffee table (Draco would probably find the paper and the ink very odd since he was used to parchment and quill) in the living room so she could make a reply while Sirius told her things to write:

_Draco,_

_We would **love** to come and see you at Diagon Alley. There is a very small candy shop beside Ollivander's where we'll meet you at 9. That's very early, we know, but we figure that it will give us plenty of time to be together before the regular crowd of shoppers shows up around lunchtime. If Narcissa has a problem with getting you there that early, then you may tell her that she can make a call and deal with Sirius herself. If you aren't there we will assume that you aren't coming and make our way back home so we don't look too conspicuous loitering about in one place, but we know you'll be there so we won't have to worry about that. Use the hexes you've been practicing on your mother and come by yourself if you have to, Draco, because we're very much looking forward to seeing one another again!_

_ Sirius and Alex _

_P.S. We must add, as we are **supposed** to be responsible adults, that you are in no way to take what we said seriously. It would be very irresponsible to hex your mother and run away to Diagon Alley by yourself...unfortunately._

--------------------

Diagon Alley was wonderfully devoid of a large crowd on the morning of July 31st. Sirius knew that it was only because it was _so_ early in the morning. It was a Tuesday morning, however, so he hoped that many people would have already gone shopping last Saturday (which was the Saturday after receiving their letters) or would be coming on a later Saturday. Not everyone could get off of work during the week to bring their children shopping, after all.

The little candy shop was completely empty except for Sirius, Alex, and the old witch behind the counter. Sirius had donned a disguise via Polyjuice Potion, and he now looked like his late brother. He looked like a Black, but Regulus hadn't resembled Sirius in particular very much, so he felt pretty confident that no one short of a Hogwarts professor or a death eater would notice him. He didn't feel like either one of those groups of people would be very likely to pass by on early Tuesday morning, and for that reason he hadn't made Alex disguise herself at all. The general public didn't really know what she looked like even though she'd been in the news because no one had actually _seen_ her, they'd just had a general description.

They milled around the shop as slowly as possible, pretending to look over each proffered item with great interest. It was five after nine when Draco finally strolled through the door. Sirius recognized him immediately by his platinum hair, but otherwise probably wouldn't have known it was him. The chubby-cheeked, smiling, bouncy little boy had been replaced by a face that was beginning to go from cute to genuinely handsome and the general air of a boy who was on the verge of adolescence and thought himself very mature. Alex made a move to run towards him immediately, and Sirius made no attempt to stop her. Their hair color was so similar that the woman behind the counter would just assume that they were family anyway.

Sirius took the load of candy they had accumulated during their waiting period for Draco up to the counter. He had just taken the bag from the lady and turned around to go join the reunion when a blur of white-blonde plowed into him. He laughed and returned the embrace as enthusiastically as it had been given.

"I've missed you," Draco told him with sincerity. Even though they had been speaking to each other very frequently for years, Sirius knew what he meant. He had missed actually _being with_ the boy, too.

"It's good to see you," Sirius told him truthfully. He looked around so he could greet his other cousin, but realized that she was nowhere to be seen. His gaze whipped around to Draco, who was now standing beside Alex, "Where's Narcissa?"

Alex seemed to notice for the first time that the woman wasn't there, and she exclaimed, "Draco! You didn't actually do what your cousin suggested in that letter did you!"

"No, of course not!" he denied, "Father made her go run some errands since we were coming anyway, and she didn't want me to go into Kno..._there_." He wisely chose not to say "Knockturn Alley" in front of the shop witch since it would only attract negative attention to them.

Sirius really didn't want to know what kind of errands that bastard was having his dear cousin run. He suggested that they adjourn to someplace more private, and both of his companions agreed. As they were walking out of the candy shop with Alex in the middle of him and Draco, Sirius turned to question him, "How long did your mother say she would be?"

"She said that she would meet me at Madam Malkin's at eleven," the boy replied.

Sirius nodded to show that he had heard him. That worked out just perfectly for them since it meant that he could still take Draco where he had first planned even though Narcissa wouldn't be there. They wouldn't have to worry about a frantic mother calling a search party to find her missing son when she couldn't find them. He would be sure to have the boy safely at Madam Malkin's by the time eleven o'clock rolled around.

He led the group to Gringotts, and they ascended the steps arm in arm. Alex was just making the comment that Draco had reached sufficient height to properly escort her when they reached the main desk. Sirius handed the stuffy old goblin his key, and held up his hand to stop it just as it was about to motion over an escort. All three of them – Alex, Draco, and the goblin – looked at him oddly.

He put on a very stern face as he spoke, "I'd like a room upstairs."

"But those are just for special circumstances!" the goblin exclaimed in obvious disbelief that he was receiving such a request.

Sirius, in fact, was _not_ requesting. He was _ordering_. He glared at the goblin, "Did I ask you to argue with me? No, I didn't! If you can't give me what I want then I'll have my accounts transferred to the bank in the States!" It was a well-known fact that the British and American banks did not get along very well at all. The American banks were not run by goblins, but were instead run by wizards much the same way that muggle banks were run. The Gringotts goblins had very little respect for such an establishment, and were constantly muttering about how theirs was the safest method of banking in the world to anyone who dared to give them an ear to talk to.

His plan worked, and the goblin immediately scrambled to apologize, "Of course we'll make a room available for you! We would do nothing to make one of our most important clients unhappy!"

Sirius chuckled to himself as he led Alex and Draco to the door he knew was the elevator. He motioned them further away from the door as he placed his key into the hole, remembering that it swung outwards. When they were all in the elevator, the first one to speak was Alex, "I didn't know that you were one of their most important clients."

"Well, that might be because you've always refused to look at the ledgers," Sirius informed her dryly.

Actually, Sirius figured that he was one of the wealthiest wizards alive. The Black family fortune was extremely old and extremely valuable since it'd had so long to accumulate, but he had even more than that. He also had the rather large fortune of late Uncle Alphard. Added to all of that was the money he had made on his own. He had taken all of the fortunes from the assassinations he'd done. Not because he'd personally wanted the money for himself, but because he'd known that it would go to Voldemort if it was left alone. He could have donated it to charity, but then they would have asked him where it had all come from. He couldn't donate it _now_ because such a large amount of money would be investigated immediately, and if they ever linked it back to him they would eventually figure out how he'd obtained it and then he'd have even _more_ charges against him.

His musings came to an abrupt halt as the elevator door swung opened again. He stepped out and immediately walked over to the goblin sitting at the desk. After handing over his key and exchanging a few words the goblin finally got out from behind his desk to lead them down the corridor. Alex and Draco tagged along behind Sirius and the goblin as they were led to their room.

When they were finally admitted into the luxurious parlor, Sirius turned back to the goblin, "I want a large bag full of galleons, another full of muggle money, and I would also like you to bring me my ledger. I'll call for you when you're needed, but until then we aren't to be disturbed." The goblin nodded its understanding and left the room, shutting the door behind it. The three of them sat down to begin their long awaited conversation.

--------------------

A/N: Finally we start the new section! Reviews would be appreciated to let me know if it's going alright as far as you, the readers, think. I know there really isn't _much_ to go on in this chapter about what's going to happen, but I'd like to know what you think all the same. More than one person has asked me about Alex's Christmas present from Chapter Twenty-Nine (in both review and in person). I'll just tell everyone now that it'll show up later and that even though you don't know what it is **yet**, that you've already seen it in action.

The Hand of Glory you might remember from the CoS movie when Harry accidentally floos into Knockturn Alley. It's the corpsey-looking hand that closes around his own hand and gives him quite the little scare in the shop. The information about what it is used for was taken from what I could find out about the folklore, but don't take my word as absolute since I didn't research it in depth.

And, no, for those of you who got all excited...Lucius Malfoy didn't die. If you didn't already know that from both Draco's letter and Draco's words in Diagon Alley, then I figured I would just inform you now so that no one would be all confused when the man pops up later. I couldn't just kill someone as integral to the plot as Lucius Malfoy! If you don't think he's all that important then take this into consideration...

1. Draco wouldn't have to act the way he does in the books if his father was dead. Not _my_ Draco anyway, and this will play a very important role to his character development in this story.

2. Ginny Weasley never would have been given Tom Riddle's diary, and the Chamber of Secrets probably would have never been opened. There goes a whole year's worth of events.

3. Lucius Malfoy is a very important and influential death eater. Who on earth would I get to replace him if I just randomly killed him off!


	31. Snobbish Little Prick

A/N: This is the chapter where you'll really see what I've always meant when I said that this story would follow along with the books but would have things going on "behind the scenes" so to speak. I know that it will get really in depth in second year, since Draco was so closely _related_ to things, and Draco is Sirius and Alex's view into Hogwarts right now. I'm trying really hard to make Harry and Draco's first year exciting and worth the read...but it's really hard since there truly isn't all that much to work with. Be assured that I'll do my best, though!

Also, Sirius explains to Alex in this chapter something to do with nobility (to be vague and not give it all away in notes). I have listed the reasons that I believe that this isn't farfetched at the end of the chapter.

Also, Harry and Draco meet up in this chapter. I've found _some_ of Draco's quotes but can't find _any_ of Harry's exact quotes in the robe shop to save my life...I haven't got a copy of SS/PS handy anywhere even remotely near my present location, though, so we'll just have to make do. A lot of the dialogue (on Draco's part anyway) is exactly what he said, but a good portion of it is also made up by me.

Chapter Thirty-One

They had been sitting and chatting in the parlor on the third story of Gringotts for almost an hour. Sirius and Alex had asked Draco about everything he had learned during his unofficial studies, and he had also told them about all sorts of adventures he had gotten into with his best friend, Blaise. Sirius really didn't want to disrupt the happy atmosphere by turning the conversation into uncomfortable territory, but he knew he had to do it. There were several things that were burning in his mind that needed to be taken care of.

Finally, in between stories, he decided to suck it up and ask the question, "How _is_ your father, Draco?"

"He's fine, I suppose," came the confused response, "Why do you ask?"

"I had a little run in with him and a group of his friends," Sirius informed the boy truthfully, "I was just wondering if he was hurt." As a matter of fact, Sirius wasn't wondering that so much as wondering why the hell the man wasn't in tiny pieces like the rest of the death eaters.

"Oh! Is it you he was going on about then?" Draco asked. "He was yelling at Mother about her stupid cousin always getting in the way. I didn't know that he meant you. What did you do to him?"

Sirius opted to explain, "I used a curse on the room in general. Everyone else died, and I was surprised when I found out that he wasn't dead. I was getting ready to write my condolences to you and your mother when I got your letter, actually."

"Well, he was hurt the other night," Draco said thoughtfully, "I wasn't supposed to be out of bed, but I couldn't sleep anyway so I decided to spy on Father when he came home from his meeting. He came in limping on one leg and holding the same side. He's had a cane made now...got his want fit into it and everything."

It was Alex who managed to voice the question in both of their minds, "A _cane_?"

Draco nodded, "Yes. It's all black and shiny and has a snake for a handle that his wand is also attached to so that it fits inside of it. He told Mother that his father carried a cane and that it made him look dignified, and she didn't see him come home that night so she doesn't know that he was really just hurt. He leans on it some, but never in public."

Sirius was glad that he had at least managed to permanently damage Malfoy even if he hadn't been able to kill him. The man was like a cockroach, apparently, and just wouldn't die. He decided to ask the even more pressing question, "So he wants you to be friends with Harry?"

"Yes," Draco sighed, "I just can't understand why."

"I know why," Sirius started carefully. He knew that Draco didn't like Lucius but it still wouldn't do to say anything _too_ blatantly horrible about the man since he _was_ the boy's father, "I think that he wants you to be friends with him because he wants you to be very close to the Boy-Who-Lived. You know that it was Harry who defeated Voldemort, of course, and I think that your father wants to get revenge on him for it."

Draco seemed to contemplate what his cousin had said for a few moments. Finally, he nodded in acceptance, "That sounds like something Father would do."

"You can't be friends with Harry Potter, Draco," Sirius informed him softly.

"What if I really like him?" came the innocent question. It was actually a very valid question since Sirius really couldn't imagine the two boys _not _liking each other. He didn't actually _know_ Harry, but if he was anything at all like either of his parents then Sirius knew that he and Draco would get along just fine.

Sirius felt bad about having to tell his favorite kid (well he hadn't seen his own godson in a decade!) to purposefully be hateful to someone, but he had to do it. He sighed dejectedly, "You can't even be friends with him if you like him. Actually, you have to be mean to him and make him not want to be close to you at all. If you let Harry get close to you then your father will use that against him. Do you understand?"

"Yes," the boy replied after a few moments, "but Father will be very angry with me. He really wants me to be friends with Harry Potter, and if I don't do it he'll be furious."

Sirius really did not need the reminder that Lucius beat his son. He found himself not able to speak as he seethed internally. He should never have let either of his cousins go back all those years ago – _especially_ Draco. Even if this was the first time he'd actually physically been in the presence of the blond in six years, he still thought of Draco as something of a son-figure. He really hoped that Draco thought of him as a surrogate father, too, although he didn't have the guts to mention any such thing.

"Well," it was Alex who finally answered, "You'll just have to make it seem like you really _did_ try to make friends. Act like your father expects you to act since I'm sure Harry will be a bit put off by it, and _then_ ask him to be your friend. I'm sure he'll reject you if he's anything like his parents were."

Draco stared at her in surprise, "How in Merlin's name am I supposed to do that?"

Sirius laughed at the incredulous note in the boy's voice, "Just act like yourself, you snobbish little prick. It shouldn't be too hard for you, seeing as you've already rotted through to the core from expensive presents and chocolate straight from Switzerland."

"I am **not** a snobbish little prick!" the retort came almost immediately even as the two adults in the room laughed.

Alex patted his leg comfortingly, "We know you aren't, Draco. You know Sirius is only teasing you."

"Speaking of expensive presents..." Sirius started before the boy got _too_ angry with him. He reached into his inner robesand pulled out a box, which he enlarged to be rather big, and handed it to Draco, "I thought you might enjoy this. It should be rather useful since you'll be starting school soon."

Draco accepted the box without even pretending to be humble, as most people would have done. He opened it without hesitation, and his jaw dropped as he got a look at the shiny material inside. He pulled it out with a reverent look on his face and examined it more closely. He looked at the item in his hands, looked up at Sirius in shock, looked back at his gift, looked up at his cousin again, and was finally able to mutter, "Is this what I _think_ it is?"

"Well, that would depend on what you think it is," Sirius informed him easily.

"An _invisibility cloak_?" Draco's voice held a good deal of awe as he managed to force the words out.

Sirius chuckled and moved to take the cloak from the boy so he could drape it over his shoulders. As it was put into place nothing but Draco's head, disembodied and floating many feet off the floor, was able to be seen. "There's a bit more if you'll just look into the box," he told the blonde boy with a smile.

Draco immediately flew back to the box, which had ended up sitting beside Alex on the sofa. He peered into it, and reached his hand in only to bring it triumphantly back out clutching a piece of paper in his grasp. He plopped down onto the couch to read it, and after a few seconds looked up in confusion.

"It's a list of secret passages at Hogwarts. I discovered them when I went to school there," Sirius told him.

The boy turned back to the paper as he read them off, "Kitchens, Honeyduke's...the Shrieking Shack! Really? I thought it was haunted!"

"Oh, it isn't haunted at all," Sirius informed him with a reassuring grin, "It's perfectly safe."

"These are brilliant!" Draco exclaimed ecstatically, "Thanks!"

Alex spoke up for the first time since Sirius had decided to lavish the boy with more gifts, "Yes, Sirius, this is _just_ what he needs. Honestly, you spoil him enough without giving him things that can _really_ get him into trouble!" It was true enough. Draco received expensive gifts from every place that Sirius and Alex visited, sometimes they even threw in gifts for his friend Blaise, too. Added to that were all of the rare, expensive, and restricted potions ingredients and magical items that Sirius had gifted the two boys with over the years to help them in their private studies. It was true, however, that none of the items could have really gotten them into trouble unless Lucius Malfoy suddenly decided to search his son's rooms. Even if the Ministry raided the manor and found the items it would be Lucius who got into trouble.

"I had both of those things when I was in school," Sirius informed her coolly, "and I turned out wonderfully!"

"Of course, you're right, dear," Alex intoned sarcastically, "Becoming a world-class assassin and an escaped convict on the run from Azkaban is truly how every parent wants their child to turn out."

Sirius adopted an arrogant tone, "Yes, but everyone _has_ heard of me haven't they? _World-class_ and _escaped_ being the key words there. How many people can say they're world-class assassins? I _know_ no one else can say they've escaped Azkaban."

"Besides," Draco joined the conversation, "I know _my_ father would be _thrilled_ if I accomplished either of those things."

"Exactly," Sirius nodded along with Draco, "We can't help it that the only goals ever instilled in you while growing up were to sit around, look pretty, and produce heirs."

She sneered at both of them, "Well, at least _I'm_ pretty."

Sirius exclaimed, "I'm a fucking Adonis!" at the same time that Draco protested, "I _am so!"_

They bickered good-naturedly amongst themselves for a little while longer. Soon enough, however, the clock showed that they had less than an hour left. Draco needed to get to Madam Malkin's robe shop before his mother got there or she would go crazy with worry. Sirius finally picked up the ledger that had appeared on the coffee table some time ago. He had a good reason for taking up a sitting room. The goblins wouldn't be nearly so obliging after a while no matter how much money he had, but what he was about to do would leave them with nothing to complain about at all as far as doing any sort of business with him. He looked up at Alex in indecision for a few moments before he finally came to the conclusion that his idea was a good one.

"What?" she asked as she noticed the odd look he had shot her.

"Oh, nothing much," he glanced up from the ledger mischievously, "I was just thinking that it's high time I made you a proper Duchess Black."

"Why are you deciding this now of al...did you say _duchess_?" she stared at him in some state of shock.

Sirius shared a humor filled look with Draco, "Why, Young Master Malfoy, I do believe that our lovely Lady Yaxley has no idea at all just how prominent her future surname is."

"She's a Yaxley?" the boy asked before a wicked grin lit up his face and he turned to address Alex directly, "You look nothing like them. They're all tall, broad, ugly little buggers...even the women. Except you, of course, you're wonderful."

"_Duchess_?" seemed to be the only thing that she was able to focus on, even in the face of Draco's teasing and subsequent compliment to her own physical appearance (which Sirius himself decided not to comment on since he didn't feel the need to kill Draco like he would if it were anyone else).

Sirius sighed as he prepared himself for an explanation, "I shouldn't be surprised that you don't know, I suppose. The people who raised you wouldn't have wanted you trying to go off and get your family to claim you, which I guess you might have done if you'd known they were influential in society. Did you never stop to think that there might be a _reason_ why the old pureblood families act so aristocratically about everything?" At the negative shake of her head, Sirius continued, "Well, it doesn't have any bearing at all with muggle society...The queen and the like have never even heard the names of any of the wizarding nobility...and it's just a title with no responsibilities tied to it in our world...but sometime after the founders, which is when blood _really_ began to mix, you know, the families who were still pure got the idea into their arrogant little heads that they deserved to be titled. They wanted proof of their superiority to muggleborns and halfbloods, I guess. Either way, the Minister at the time was from a pureblooded family and he decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea at all to have a title for himself. The rankings are based on how far back the family's pure lineage could be traced, how wealthy they were, and how influential they were in society already. The governments in other wizarding countries caught on quickly, and almost every country has their own noble families. Only two families in Britain have the highest rank now: the Malfoys and the Blacks. All of the other pureblood families have lesser titles unless they were revoked for being blood traitors or some such rubbish."

Alex nodded as she took in the flood of information, "Why only those two families?"

"Well, there used to be more," Sirius started, "All of the founders' families, for example, used to hold the highest title. Of course some of those families died out and other ones have changed names. Slytherin's family, for example, ran out of sons. That generation only had one daughter and she married into the Gaunt family. Over the years that family became so inbred that no one would have them, and by World War Two they had lost virtually all of their wealth. That happened to a lot of families, and they were all lowered in rank unless their titles were simply revoked altogether. If the only descendants of a family aren't pureblooded then the family's title is revoked, too, which happened to the Potters. James was a pureblood but Lily was a muggleborn, so Harry is a halfblood and the Ministry won't let him hold his rightful title of earl. In the end, only my family and Draco's have managed to hold on for the long haul. That's why Lucius married Narcissa, actually, to connect the families. The only other options of such high class were foreigners."

"You just now felt the need to inform me of this?" Alex raised an elegant eyebrow at him.

Sirius grinned charmingly, "Well, how was I to know that you didn't already know? Besides, it isn't like it matters at the moment."

Draco's own eyebrows raised in surprise, "It doesn't _matter_ that you're a Duke?"

"Well, it isn't like it's anything more than a fancy title. I don't have a _job_ to go with it like the muggle ones do," Sirius shrugged, "Even if there were responsibilities to go along with the name I couldn't uphold them what with being on the run and all."

"What did you mean when you said you wanted to make me a proper duchess?" Alex inquired as she looked at him in confusion.

Sirius smiled comfortingly at her, "Don't worry, Love, nothing at all will change. I just meant that I wanted to add your name officially to my accounts. You've been on the list to be able to draw from my personal vault freely for years, but I want to make you an owner of _all_ of them with me. I can't marry you in public, but at least anyone who is concerned with our accounts will treat you just as if you were officially my wife. The word will get out with the other purebloods, too, since the goblins personally assigned to them will no doubt inform them...so I'm sure the Ministry will figure it out eventually. If you don't want your name to be connected to mine irrevocably then I won't do it..." he trailed off in uncertainty.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Alex exclaimed immediately, "I told you that I would force you to marry me eventually, and this is just the first step."

Sirius was very relieved that she was alright with his plan. He couldn't let either of the other two in the room see that he'd actually been worried that she wouldn't have him, however, so he played it off nonchalantly. He glanced at his watch to see that they only had a few minutes left before they really needed to start heading to Madam Malkin's. He summoned the goblin impatiently.

The goblin opened the door a few seconds later, as if he had been waiting outside to be called for. "You require assistance, Master Black?"

"See, he calls me master even though I'm _not_ his master because I'm highest in rank. Only lower ranks and younger sons are properly called lord, so I guess the goblins decided that they needed to find a more fitting name for me and good old Lucius...and Draco, of course...The sound of 'Duke Black' just doesn't have the same ring to it, and there really aren't counties to associate with the titles. I suppose the Malfoys _could_ be 'Duke of Wiltshire', but they don't actually control the county even though Lucius likes to _think_ he does so it wouldn't be correct..." Sirius explained to Alex with a smirk before he turned his attention back to the goblin, "I need to see Ragnok immediately. I don't have much time."

The goblin seemed about to argue, and Sirius could understand why. Ragnok was an extremely influential goblin. One didn't just waltz in and inform him that he was required for a meeting. Sirius, however, wasn't about to be deterred. He leveled the youngish goblin with an icy glare that brooked no opposition. After a few seconds, it bowed and backed out of the room, seemingly in a state of shock.

Sirius looked around the room as he waited for Ragnok to make an appearance. Alex still seemed to be in quite a bit of shock over everything she had learned. Draco, on the other hand, had already moved on from the subject. He was sitting on the couch fervently studying the list of secret passages and rooms that he had been given. It was quite an eerie sight because he was wrapped up in his invisibility cloak, and only his hand and his head could be seen. Every once in a while he would poke a foot out and watch with interest as it appeared to float in thin air, or he would cover his exposed hand with the cloak so that the sheet of paper he was holding looked like it was being levitated.

Sirius didn't have long to watch, though, since the door opened a few moments later and the stately and very annoying goblin stomped in. "I take it you have some important business to discuss with me, _Master_ Black?"

Normally he wouldn't have allowed such blatant disrespect from _anyone_, much less someone he employed, but he didn't have the time to argue. He rolled his eyes and got right to the point, "I'll be adding the new duchess to my accounts."

"The new duchess?" Ragnok's anger was visibly deflated at that, but he obviously couldn't help blurting out, "I wasn't aware that you had married!"

"I haven't," Sirius snapped, "but this lady here," he motioned to Alex, "is my betrothed, and she'll be treated just as if she were a duchess. We don't foresee being able to hold an official binding ceremony in the very near future, so I have decided to make her my wife in all the ways that I can. I trust that you don't have a _problem_ with how I choose to manage my accounts?"

Ragnok looked properly humbled at that rebuke, and he answered immediately, "No, Master Black. Please forgive my impertinence. I was merely surprised."

"Yes, well, I haven't got all day. Actually I don't even have an hour, so would you mind _very_ much just showing me where to sign the papers so I can be on my way?" Sirius's temper was growing increasingly short as it was now cutting it closer to not having Draco back to his mother on time.

Ragnok nodded, "Of course, Master Black, if you'll just allow me a moment to get the paperwork together." With that, he turned and opened the door again, barking orders to another goblin that was standing just outside in the hallway.

A few moments later, Sirius saw a page added onto the magical ledger. The ledger held all the documents for his entire family's dealings with Gringotts including his own personal vaults, which he had added as soon as he was certain no one but himself would have access to them. Being the only remaining Black took away any threat that someone else would take a peak at his ledger. Well, in a few moments Alex would have that privilege, too.

"You'll just need to sign here," Ragnok indicated a blank, then flipped a page, "here," he did the same thing, "and here." What that, he turned the pages back to the first one, "There are also places on each of the three pages for the lady to sign."

Sirius looked over each of the pieces of parchment briefly before he took the proffered quill from the old goblin. Each separate page pertained to each of his three separate vaults: the Black vault, his personal vault, and his secret vault (containing millions of galleons taken from his victims). When he was satisfied that everything was in order, he held his hand out for the oath quill (named because it uses the writer's blood as ink, therefore invoking blood magic to uphold contracts).

He didn't even wince as his dignified handwriting appeared on the back of his hand, carving his signature into his own skin. After he had signed all three pieces of parchment, he handed both the ledger and the quill over to Alex. She caught his gaze, and smiled at him trustingly as she signed without even taking the time to read what she was getting herself into. For all she knew, she could have been agreeing to be given to a brothel. Not that such a thing would ever happen, but all the same she didn't know what she was signing. He was oddly touched by her show of trust in him. She'd signed it just because he had, and was trusting that he had made sure everything was in order.

Just as Ragnok was reviewing the parchments to make sure everything was in order, a knock at the door sounded. The old goblin gave permission for the newcomers to enter, and twelve goblins strolled in. They were split into six pairs, each pair carrying a large case between them. Sirius and Alex shared a glance as Alex questioned him with her eyes. Sirius, however, had no idea what was going on.

He was just about to voice the question when Ragnok spoke, "I assume that the new duchess will want to appraise her jewels?"

Understanding flashed through Sirius's mind even as Alex had to resort back to her questioning, "Jewels?"

"The Black family jewels," Sirius supplied the answer, "There are the diamonds and the pearls, of course. Every Lady Black gets both of those sets."

With those words, a pair of the goblins stepped forward and placed their box on the coffee table before Alex. Sirius vacated his chair to stand behind her just as it was opened to reveal beautiful pearl jewelry. There was a necklace, a bracelet, a ring, and a pair of earrings. All of the pearls were white and perfectly formed, and they were connected together by diamonds. Sirius had seen them many times before – first on his grandmother and then on his mother – so he wasn't very taken aback, although he did still admire the beauty. Draco had no doubt seen jewels of such high quality on his own mother, so he simply glanced over before going back to his list.

Alex, however, was amazed, "Oh, they're absolutely gorgeous!"

"They're yours, Love, if you'll have them," Sirius informed her with a smile of his own as she grinned up at him.

As she reached forward to run her fingers gently over the jewels, Ragnok spoke up, "The contents of the vaults are appraised twice a year to update the true value of the accounts, as you know, Master Black. The last appraisal was barely a month ago, and this set was valued at about thirty thousand galleons."

Sirius merely nodded in approval. Alex, on the other hand, gasped out loud, "That much? I can't possibly take them!"

"You can. It isn't that much at all," he said gently.

Alex yanked her hand away from the jewels as if she was afraid to damage them with her touch. Sirius chuckled and motioned for the goblins to bring the other chest forward for inspection. The pearls were closed back into their case and it was removed as another one was brought forward. The newest case was enlarged even further before they opened it, but once they did Alex was completely speechless. The diamond set contained many more pieces than the pearl set. While the pearls were only worn on specific occasions or with specific outfits, the diamonds were much more versatile. There were pieces for the most elaborate of dress, and also pieces for more casual wear. All in all there were three necklaces, three bracelets, three rings, two pairs of earrings, and a brooch.

"These were appraised at upwards of seventy thousand galleons," Ragnok informed them from his place on the other side of the table.

That was actually more than Sirius had expected, but he wasn't _really_ shocked. The diamonds were all of the highest quality and set into platinum, and they were all antiques in pristine condition. Alex seemed unable to speak, and even Draco was eyeing the jewels with interest. Sirius nodded his approval at the goblins. They closed the box, reduced it in size, and retreated back to stand in line with the others.

"What's in the other cases?" Alex finally spoke.

Sirius smiled at her, "Even more jewelry, of course. There is a set for each of the four houses at Hogwarts: rubies for Gryffindor, emeralds for Slytherin, blue sapphires for Ravenclaw, and yellow sapphires for Hufflepuff. It's tradition to take the set for the house you were in when you were at school."

"But I didn't go to school," she looked up at him questioningly.

"I know," he answered, "Which is why I'm having a bit of trouble deciding which you should take. We could go by which color would look best on you...or we can just forget this particular tradition."

They looked at each other in indecision for a few moments before Draco spoke up, "Why don't you just take the set for Sirius's house?"

It was actually a good suggestion. Sirius glanced at Alex to get her permission before he gestured to the goblins to bring the rubies forward.

"Each set is worth an average of ten thousand galleons," the goblin supplied helpfully.

Alex was still staring at everything in shock, and she spun around to face Sirius, "You really expect me to wear something worth so much? What if I lose something? What if I break something? I would feel horrible wasting so much money!"

Sirius felt the need to finally force Alex to take a glance at his ledgers. She needed to know what financial state they were in anyway now that her name was on everything. He glanced down at his watch and saw that there were only fifteen minutes left to get Draco to Madam Malkins, and probably less since Narcissa would be there waiting for them right about now anyway. He sighed and addressed Ragnok, "We'll take the diamonds, the pearls, and the rubies then, but I'll need you to keep them safe in the vault for a while longer. I'll inform you by owl post when I expect to come and pick them up."

"Of course, Master Black, "the goblin motioned the others out of the room, "Your money is waiting at the desk whenever you're ready to leave."

--------------------

Alex was still reeling from what had happened at the bank. They were walking down the front steps and back out onto the street and she still couldn't think of anything else. Slamming into a rather sturdy wizard caused her to return back to the real world, but not before the damage was done. The wizard caught her arm to keep her from tripping, not that she needed it since her balance and reflexes were enough to save her without help. The man didn't know that, however, and he clutched onto her forearm tightly. Alex flinched and attempted to yank herself away from the man, and apparently he took that as a sign that she was hurt.

"Are you okay?" he asked politely, "Is there anything I can do?"

Alex might have been willing to simply walk away from the situation since the man was being so polite, but what she saw when she looked up to face him was enough to scare her. He was _leering_ at her as if she was a whore that he was appraising. Her throat closed up in fear, but she didn't allow it to paralyze her. She attempted once more to rip her arm out of the man's grip, and succeeded in moving his hand from over the fabric of her sleeve to the bare skin of her elbow. The man howled out in pain as he released her immediately and cradled his injured hand to his chest.

The faint smell of burnt flesh had just started to permeate the air when another person touched her. She tensed at first in preparation of attack, but even through her half feral, terror induced mind she picked up on the masculine, throaty voice. She would know his voice anywhere, and it was enough to calm her down back to her normal self as Sirius's arm went around her waist. Her other senses were going haywire because it neither smelt nor felt like her lover, but his mind joining to hers was enough to make her remember that he was under the effects of Polyjuice Potion. Luckily it hadn't changed his voice.

She didn't understand any of the words exchanged between Sirius and the other wizard. Eventually, she had calmed down adequately enough to realize that they only had a very few minutes left before Narcissa Malfoy would send in a search party to find her son. She was just about to speak up and tell Sirius to forget it, that this entire ordeal was her fault in the first place, when she heard him growl low in his throat. She knew what it meant, and was wracking her brain for a way to stop the oncoming fight when he shoved her behind him.

A growled out, "Take her with you and go, Draco," was all that she heard before Draco's hand closed around her wrist.

The boy had dragged her a few meters away when she finally snapped out of her confusion and spun to go and stop Sirius before he drew any more attention to himself. Draco, however, stopped her with his whispered plea, "Don't go mess with that man again, Alex. He's one of my father's friends. You can't trust them; they cheat in duels."

Alex was on the verge of telling Draco that she didn't give a fuck _who_ the man was when what he had said penetrated into her thought processes. Sirius wasn't fighting the man over _her_. She should have known that he would know better than to do something so incredibly stupid as start a fight in the middle of Diagon Alley over her. He knew that she would kill him if he managed to evade arrest. He was fighting the man because he'd recognized him as a death eater. If there was one thing that she had learned about Sirius over the years, it was not to either bring up the war or to argue with him about getting vengeance when he had a chance. She didn't know what the man had done to him, but if he was willing to fight in the middle of a crowd then she figured that she'd better just let him have at it. She would ask him what it was all about later.

She nodded her head in submission, and Draco pulled her by the hand as he continued on his journey. Madam Malkins was just two stores over from Gringotts Wizarding Bank, and it took them only a few more seconds to reach it. Draco waltzed in as if he owned the place, and they were admitted into what appeared to be a waiting area. Narcissa was indeed waiting. She was sitting in a chair with her legs crossed, bouncing her foot restlessly in the air as she watched the door.

"Oh, Draco darling, I was worried you'd gotten lost!" she exclaimed as she stood elegantly from her chair.

Draco walked over and kissed her hand dutifully, but the disdain was clear in his voice when he spoke, "_Mother_, I'm not a simpleton! Diagon Alley is one big street! How did you really expect me to get lost?"

Narcissa took on a stern air as she regarded her son, "I'm your mother, it is my _job_ to worry."

Draco opened his mouth to retort, but just as he was about to speak a woman bustled out from the back of the store. "How may I hel...Lady Malfoy!" the witch looked shocked to see the blonde woman standing before her, "I'm so sorry for the wait! If I'd had any idea that it was you I would ha..."

"Run out immediately and offered to levitate her to a chair, spoon feed her, and rub her feet so she wouldn't have been bothered?" Draco interrupted with a snicker.

A young girl accompanied by her mother came out from the back of the store to leave, which was a path that took them horribly close to Alex. She immediately moved forward as soon as she noticed the proximity of the other people and came to a stop beside Draco, who was the only person in the room who she felt comfortable with. Her mind was still outside on the street with Sirius, and she simply couldn't think of anything else. She was so preoccupied with worry that she didn't even notice when a question was directed her way.

She was suddenly aware of everyone's eyes on her, and she had no clue what she was supposed to say. Draco, bless him, killed two birds with one stone by both answering for her and enlisting his mother's help, "You'll have to forgive Alex if she's a little distracted. My cousin ran into a bit of trouble outside when we were on our way here, and he stayed behind while Alex valiantly offered to escort me here. I'm sure she's just worried about what's happened to him." He gave his mother a pointed look that clearly said his explanation wasn't even the half of it.

Narcissa nodded briefly to show that she understood, and then took charge of the situation as she turned back to address Madam Malkin, "Draco will be needing his school robes. Use the best material. Money is no object, so I expect them to be of the utmost quality." She turned to give Draco a significant look, "I want to go down the street and have a look in Ollivanders, but I feel simply horrid about leaving you here alone. You really have no sense at all when it comes to fashion."

There was silence for a few moments, and suddenly Alex felt Draco's foot crash down roughly on her toe. She almost turned to yell at him, but stopped short when she caught the expectant look he was giving her. She suddenly caught on to the mother and son's game, and managed to reply, "Oh! Yes, well...I would be delighted to stay with Draco if you would like."

Draco smiled at her briefly before turning with a suddenly petulant look at his mother, "Please, Mother, can she?"

"Oh, I _suppose_ that would be alright," the blonde woman put on a rather good show of contemplating the situation.

"Excellent!" Draco put an end to the need for acting, "Let's just go get it over with then." With that, he grabbed Alex by the hand and led her over to the stools where one stood to be measured. They had just gotten out of earshot when he turned to her with an extremely serious face, "Mother was just fibbing, you know. I actually have _brilliant_ taste."

Even as worried as she was, Alex couldn't help but laugh at the fact that Draco was so concerned that she know such a thing. "You really are snobbish," she informed him with a grin.

"I'm not _snobbish_," he denied with a shake of his head, "I'm just better than everyone else. People often mistake my perfection for snobbishness, you know, only it isn't true because my arrogance has nothing to do with my money _or_ my position in society."

Alex laughed, "Well, you _are_ very wonderful, I must admit. You're intelligent, cunning, funny, charming, and, dare I say it...quite attractive. If I told you that your arrogance was a bad thing then it would really be very hypocritical of me, wouldn't it? Since it is one of the things I love the most about Sirius."

"Oh, **I **know how wonderful I am, and **you** know how wonderful I am. It's just everyone else who's jealous and predisposed to thinking that I'm snobbish when I'm _really_ just perfect and not afraid to let them know it," he adopted a very pompous tone as he said this, but then it broke into a knowing voice as he asked, "You really think I'm handsome, then?"

"Your ego will be so big now that you won't be able to fit out of the door and you'll be stuck in this room forever until I can find some way to deflate your head," Draco laughed along with her at that.

They were still laughing a few moments later when Madam Malkin strolled over. It took her very little time to have Draco completely covered in black fabric. She had several magical measuring tapes floating around him, automatically recording their results onto a parchment. He and Alex were still snickering over their earlier conversation when the door opened again, only to reveal another boy. Alex felt the worst feeling of deja vu as she got a good look at him.

Draco didn't appear to recognize the boy at all, and when Alex tried to send him the thought she found that his mind was blocked off. She reached out and pinched his arm when the other boy wasn't looking, and Draco turned to glare at her. She glanced over only to see that the other occupant of the room would probably see her if she said anything to Draco, so she tapped her temple and sent the blonde a pleading look that he understand. He stared at her in confusion and not a little bit of worry for a few seconds before his eyes lit up in realization.

As Alex felt the barrier to his mind break down, she immediately sent him her thoughts, "_That's Harry Potter."_

Draco's eyes widened dramatically, and he spun around to stare at the boy, disrupting many of the magical tape measures as he did so. He couldn't communicate with Alex telepathically since you had to either be extremely good at working with people's minds or have an extremely close mental connection with a person to do that. His general thoughts, however, all clearly pointed to the fact that he had no idea what to do.

He started out simply enough, adopting a haughty demeanor as he asked, "Are you buying your Hogwarts robes, then?"

Harry turned to look at him, obviously surprised that anyone at all would speak to him. He nodded his head in affirmation, "Yeah. It's my first year."

"Mine, too," Draco seemed to flounder for a moment before he moved onto another subject. He then seemed to remember that he wasn't supposed to know who the boy was, and asked a decidedly generalized question, "Are you here alone?" Harry nodded yes, and before he could speak again Draco cut him off, "Mother's up the street looking at wands. Then I'm going to drag her off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why the first-years can't have their own. I think I'll bully Father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

Alex had to applaud the way that Draco had made himself sound so horrid in just a few sentences. Harry was still looking at him with a somewhat taken aback expression, and Draco pressed forward, "Do you play quidditch?"

"No," it was clear – to Alex at least – that the boy had absolutely no clue what quidditch was.

"_I_ do," Draco put on his most snobbish air, "Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree."

Harry looked confused once again. "What's your house?" he asked.

Alex wasn't sure whether Draco realized that Harry was actually asking what a house was. Even if he did realize it, he steered his answer in another direction, "Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin. All our family have been – imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"I..." Harry trailed off in an unsure voice.

A sudden tapping at the window startled all three of them. All of their heads turned to look, only to see an enormous, wild-looking man holding up an owl cage. Alex watched Harry's eyes light up, and she sent another thought to Draco, "_He likes that man._"

The blonde seemed to get her message, and did a very good job of insulting the man, "I heard he's a sort of _savage_ – lives in a hut in the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."

"He isn't a _savage_," Harry immediately jumped to defend his friend.

Draco, being as intelligent as he was, decided to get in one last hit, "Of course, you can't really expect much more from a halfblood. I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?"

If Alex had though the boy was intelligent before, then she definitely knew it now. He'd been able to keep his head enough to rub it in that Harry was a halfblood. There was no way that Harry would be his friend now...not after hearing himself insulted so badly, whether or not it was an insult on him _directly_. On the other hand, Lucius Malfoy would _never_ be able to fault his son for saying such a thing – it was what he himself had taught the boy!

Just at that moment, Madam Malkin strolled over to Draco, "You're finished if you would like to leave. I shall just have the robes delivered to Malfoy Manor, yes?"

"That would be fine," Draco answered as he was helped out of the robes. He stepped off of the stool and offered Alex his arm, wisely deciding not to say anything else to Harry Potter before they left. They walked out the door together, only to meet up with Narcissa Malfoy on her way in to retrieve them.

Alex opened her mouth to ask after Sirius, but Narcissa knew what she wanted even before she asked. "He's waiting for you at the apothecary."

Alex turned to kiss Draco's cheek, "Goodbye, Draco."

"You have to promise to keep in touch," he said into her ear as he embraced her.

"We'll see each other again," she informed him confidently. He smiled at her reassurance, and gave her one last squeeze before stepping back to stand beside his mother.

Alex smiled at Draco and waved once more as Narcissa led him across the street to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. She turned around and headed towards the Leaky Cauldron. Slug and Jiggers Apothecary was the last shop before you entered the pub. It was a rather large building with all sorts of potions ingredients lining the walls and stacked up on the floor. Alex found Sirius in a corner just inside the door putting on a show of inspecting some sort of herb.

"Are you okay?" she whispered as she came to a stop behind him.

He turned, and she took in his face. There was a long slash across his forehead and through his eyebrow and a bruise starting to form around one eye. He smiled at her to prove that he was perfectly alright, "I'm fine, Love. Let's get out of here before my potion wears off."

He took her hand and guided her out of the shop and through the archway that led into the pub. As the bricks reformed the wall behind them and cut off the view of Diagon Alley, he turned to stare at the door leading into the Leaky Cauldron. When he was sure that no one was about to come through either way, he teleported them away.

--------------------

A/N: Well, reviews are just pitiful for this story, aren't they? I _sometimes_ get a whopping **three** of them per chapter! Seriously, I would appreciate it if you would just at least write a sentence or two to tell me what you like or what you hate or whatever. It makes it easier for me to write when I know what everyone thinks of it...instead of what just two or three people think of it. I accept anonymous reviews, so you don't even have to sign in or make an account to do it!...so **please** review!

The galleons...well the jewels are worth a **lot**. Just for reference points...winning the Triwizard Tournament, which is extremely hard and dangerous, is worth 1000 galleons...the Weasleys were able to take their entire family to Egypt on 700 galleons, and then had some left over...Hit Wizards, one of _the_ most dangerous jobs in the wizarding world, make 700 galleons per month...dragon feeders make 28 galleons per month...As for how much everything is worth in the muggle world (keep in mind that these are based on an exchange rate that _might_ not be current, I don't really know how often they update the converter I use):

House sets were worth 10,000 galleons...which is 73,300 dollars...or 50,000 pounds

Pearls were worth 30,000 galleons...which is 219,900 dollars...or 150,00 pounds

Diamonds were worth 70,000 galleons...which is 513,100 dollars...or 350,000 pounds

Okay...the duke/duchess thing...like Sirius explained, it isn't like they're _really_ either of those things. The title is simply something given to the family by the Ministry to indicate how influential or important the family is...the order is from the highest to the lowest as follows: duke, marquess, earl, viscount, baron. Now, I don't think it's that farfetched because you'll notice that a lot of the pureblood families have crests...there has to be a _reason_ your family gets a crest. You don't just call someone up and request one out of the blue, and you don't just draw up a pretty design and randomly start putting it on your stationary either. Only important families get crests...Also, even though I haven't actually given you anyone's rankings or anything like that up until this chapter, I _have_ made it clear that the pureblood families were important like that...

1. In Chapter Twenty the whole note explaining inheritance made it pretty clear that they were important, or at least that they all thought of themselves as aristocratic. Not to mention the way the inheritance actually works...only the oldest son getting the fortune instead of all of their children.

2. In the actual _body_ of Chapter Twenty it specifically states that purebloods are considered aristocrats in the wizarding world.

3. In Chapter Twenty-Five the annoying, flirty girl on the plane says quite clearly that no unimportant families have crests.

4. The way the goblins treat Sirius...they call him master, they let him walk all over them, they follow his orders even when they wouldn't do what he requests for hardly anyone else.


	32. The Residual Effects of Polyjuice Potion

A/N: Sorry it's taken longer than usual...it'll probably continue to do so since classes are starting back. It's been a hectic week...moving back to school, getting ready for class, etc...So anyway, this chapter doesn't have much in the way of action or plot per say...Sirius and Alex haven't _really_ had any time together in the last chapters, so I decided to give them some.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Sirius was staring at the photo album in his hand, completely succeeding in blocking out everything else in the world but the two smiling figures in the picture before him. The younger him playfully shoved the young Remus, who retaliated by trying to get him in a headlock. A wrestling match ensued between the two laughing figures, until it appeared that someone got their attention outside of the frame. They both jumped apart to continue grinning and waving at the camera.

His mind was in turmoil as he stared at the happy faces grinning up at him. Would they have been so happy if they'd known what was in store for them? Well, he couldn't say anything for Remus. It had been a decade since their last meeting, and Sirius still couldn't figure out what Remus's problem had been that day at the bar. He'd all but begged Sirius to give up his position as secret keeper. The first conclusion that could be reached was that Remus wanted to be the secret keeper himself. Even though Peter had turned out to be a death eater, that didn't mean that Remus wasn't one, too. Why else would be try his best to get the Potters in his hands?

Sirius's meeting today in Diagon Alley had completely torn up his perception of Remus. The man who Alex had accidentally run into was the same man that Sirius, James, and Peter had spent years of their lives trying to help Remus get over. Fenrir Greyback was anything but a wonderful sire for a young werewolf to have. The man turned people just because he could. Where most werewolves would feel absolutely horrible about biting a young boy and would try their best to help their new protégé, Greyback just went around biting anyone he could for the hell of it. It had taken a long time for the three of them to convince Remus that he was better off without the man who had bitten him. Remus couldn't help but want his sire around, it was apparently a basic instinct for young werewolves. Sirius had identified the most with him...someone who was _supposed_ to care for him and take care of him couldn't care less if he lived or died.

What surprised him the most was how he had reacted to seeing Greyback. He hadn't felt anything except bitterness towards Remus in a very long time. When he'd seen his former friend's sire, however, all of the former anger he'd felt on Remus's behalf had returned full force. It had lasted for all of a few minutes before he'd remembered exactly _why_ he didn't want to feel anything for Remus, and his anger had turned into anger at his former friend. The "conversation" with Greyback had been the most shocking thing he'd experienced in long time...

_Sirius stared up at the wolfish man standing just a few feet in front of him. The man even **looked** like a wolf, imagine! Even if one didn't know he was a werewolf, they would be very suspicious of him. He was an imposing figure: standing a full three inches taller than Sirius's six feet three inches_, _extremely broad to the point of his robes fitting very tightly, very hairy, and with sharp canines that looked to belong in the mouth of a wolf. Of course, they really **did** belong to a wolf, for Greyback truly acted the part even when he was actually completely human. Even if people didn't think another thing in the world about his appearance, his mannerisms were enough to make a person do a double take. He constantly sniffed their air, and seemed to be always growling._ _Sirius refused to be intimidated. He glared up at the man in contempt. _

"_Does your hand hurt?"_ _he asked with clearly false sympathy. Greyback was still cradling his hand to his chest, and the smell of the burnt flesh was still very much in the air. _

_The man was staring at him as if he'd seen a ghost. "You aren't him," he growled out, "I watched him die."_

_Sirius blinked at the mention of his brother's death. If Greyback had been there then it hadn't been a lovely painless death. He glared at the man again, "Well, what can I say? I wasn't planning on running into a death eater who'd recognize this body."_

_Greyback sniffed the air, leaning closer to Sirius_ _as he did so. Sirius growled right back at him and shoved the werewolf away roughly. Greyback didn't resist at all, but instead let out another low growl. Sirius's head tilted to the side as he wondered what the hell the werewolf was doing._

_Greyback's raspy voice was like a grate against Sirius's nerves when the man spoke, "You smell familiar and you understand the canine language, but you aren't a werewolf. What could an apparently normal human possibly have to gain by impersonating a dead death eater, I wonder?"_

"_What could a werewolf possibly have to gain by impersonating a dead death eater either?" Sirius shot back, "I don't think it really matters why I'm playing dress up. What **I** thinks matters is the fact that you seem to have taken an interest in my girl."_

"_She is a gorgeous one, isn't she? I think she would make a wonderful werewolf...She could produce some pretty cubs, don't you think?"_ _Greyback provoked him._

_Sirius couldn't help the growl that erupted from him at the threat. It was **disgusting**! The man actually wanted to turn and then **impregnate**_ _Alex, and then turn the children during infancy! The fact that the werewolf had probably done it before didn't help Sirius to calm down at all, nor did the fact that **mating** with Alex was impossible. He turned to another subject to get the monster's attention away from Alex, "I really must congratulate you, Greyback, on your ability to turn so many of your "children" to the dark side. Was it easy, I wonder, to get them to do whatever you wanted even though you had nothing to do with them after turning them?"_

"_Perhaps you would like to know how hard it is to resist when your sire gives you an order?" Greyback barked out, lunging forward at last._

_Sirius's body, which had been coiled like a spring, snapped into action immediately. He dodged the fangs coming towards him and struck out with his fist. He hit his mark, and Greyback's head snapped to the side. Sirius threw his other fist towards the werewolf's face, but it was dodged as the werewolf's fist hit him squarely in the eye instead. Their fight was drawing a crowd, and as Greyback lunged at him again they both toppled to the ground, knocking over many observers and scattering many more. _

_Greyback managed to pin Sirius to the ground. He bared his teeth as he growled out, "What do you have to gain by fighting me?"_

"_What did my friend have to gain by listening to you?" Sirius growled right back as he flipped the man off of him and moved to pin him down instead, "Why didn't he stay with the people who really cared about him?"_

"_So it is about a friend, then?" Greyback managed to get a hand between their bodies, and literally threw Sirius off of him, "What was his name? Which man could possibly be important enough to make you challenge **me**?"_

_Sirius put up his hands to defend himself as the werewolf leapt on top of him, but Greyback still managed to get a hand through. Long yellowish claws came right for Sirius's face, and he fended them off just in time. Instead of having five gashes across his face he got by with a single deep one across his forehead. He brought a knee up between them and caught Greyback right between the legs._ _The werewolf yelped in pain and went limp for just long enough for Sirius to shove him off._

_As he pinned the man down, Sirius bit out, "Remus Lupin was his name, but I'm not fighting you for him. He turned to the dark side because of you, he doesn't **deserve** me to defend him."_

_Greyback struggled for a few moments, but finally seemed to accept that he was defeated. He glared up at Sirius, "Remus Lupin never turned over to the Dark Lord. He flat out told me no! Disrespectful pup, he is! **Disgraceful** excuse for a werewolf!"_

_Sirius was absolutely floored. He considered himself very lucky that he caught himself in time to tighten his grip again before Greyback threw him off. Remus wasn't a death eater? It made no sense at all! Why the **hell** had he been so adamant about Sirius not being secret keeper if he wasn't a death eater? That's when it struck him like a bolt of lightening...but, no, that couldn't be it! Why would Remus ever think such a thing as **that**? Sirius **hated** the death eaters!_

_Greyback's rasped out question, "Why are you fighting me then?" brought Sirius back to the real world._

"_**No one** threatens my girl," he growled at the werewolf. _

"_Come on, the aurors are coming!" a voice that Sirius recognized came through the crowd._

_He glanced up to see Narcissa motioning for him to follow her, and what she had said broke through his mind. Rookie aurors always had to take turns working street patrol instead of working actual cases until the next batch of newcomers took their place the next year. It just wouldn't do for a description of his dead brother to officially hit the Ministry files. For the first time during the entire fight, he remembered that he was wizard. Magic hadn't even crossed his mind during the brawl, but now he brought it forward immediately. A quick stunning spell followed by a binding spell made him feel safe enough that Greyback wouldn't be going anywhere. He stood and grabbed Narcissa's hand as they fought their way back through the crowd. They had difficulty at first, but the warning glare he shot the people around them was enough to make the crowd part and let them through._

_They headed in the opposite direction of Madam Malkin's, and Narcissa steered them into Knockturn Alley, where the crowd would never follow them. Sirius's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he caught sight of one of the aurors running past them. He didn't get a wonderful look, though, because Narcissa shoved him into the nearest alleyway between buildings, and glared at him, "What the **hell** were you thinking?"_

"_I wasn't," Sirius admitted as he leaned against a wall._

_Narcissa opened her mouth to reprimand him, but then seemed to realize that nothing she could say would have any effect on him at all. Instead, she sighed and spoke in a much softer tone of voice, "Why don't you just stay here while I go and get Alexandrea from the robe shop?"_

"_No," Sirius immediately protested, "I don't want her anywhere near Knockturn Alley. Not to mention the fact that she'll have to walk right through a mass of people to get here." No, it definitely would **not** be good if Alex happened to kill anyone who touched her while there were aurors around investigating the fight. She was likely to do it, too, if she was still all worked up about being manhandled_ _by Greyback._

"_Well, you can't very well go waltzing back through that crowd!" Narcissa hissed at him in annoyance._

_Sirius finally looked back up at his cousin. It had been ages since he'd last seen her, and they were arguing! He sighed, "I'll just pop on over to the Apothecary. It's right beside the exit to the Alley, and we'll leave as soon as she shows up...Oh, and Narcissa...it's good to see you. We'll have to try this again some time when I'm not avoiding aurors in the middle of Diagon Alley."_

_The blonde woman finally smiled at him, "I can't say that it's good to see you, although my son certainly seems to be enjoying himself. We will have to try it again, though. Who knows? Maybe you'll actually manage to keep your fists to yourself."_

_Sirius laughed humorlessly, "Maybe."_

_A quick hug, and Narcissa was heading back down the alleyway, leaving Sirius to face the turmoil that was his mind._

He was brought out of the memory by a weight suddenly falling into his lap. He snapped out of his stupor and was met with Alex staring worriedly at him. He wanted to smile at her and tell her that he was alright, but he just couldn't manage it. Her hand came up to trace along the gash on his forehead, and he hissed when it suddenly flared up with pain. She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his head down to rest on her shoulder as she tried to sooth him. She was doing a pretty good job of comforting him, and he nuzzled into her embrace willingly.

The silence was broken by her most gentle voice, "It won't scar, but I'm not sure if something that happened to you would even show up once the Polyjuice Potion wears off even if it _should_ scar."

"I don't know if it would either," he finally managed to say. He had all but forgotten about the disguise he was wearing.

"It's strange to be holding you like this. You don't feel like yourself or smell like yourself either," Alex informed him softly.

Sirius was extremely aware of the fact that she didn't put up with anyone touching her, and he realized that it was probably very hard for her to be comforting him at the moment. He sighed, "You don't have to comfort me, Love. I'm a big boy."

He felt her shake her head, "No, I want to. I know it's you even if it doesn't _feel_ like you." A few moments later, a note of caution entered her voice, "Sirius?"

"Yes, Love?" he nuzzled into her neck further, not willing to let her go now that he knew he didn't have to.

"Who was that man?" she asked after an indecisive pause when he wasn't sure if she would actually go through with asking him or not.

His grip reflexively tightened on the photo album that was still held in one of his hands, "A werewolf, Love. A _very_ bad one...he's the kind that gives werewolves in general a bad name even though most of them are harmless as humans. He attacks people and even _eats_ them in his human form as well as on the full moon. He also worked for Voldemort changing wizards and witches into werewolves so that they would be ostracized by society and turn to the dark side for the promise of a better future."

"That's horrible," Alex declared angrily, "Which did he want with me?"

"What makes you think he wanted anything with you?" Sirius really truly didn't want to repeat that particular part of his conversation with Greyback.

Alex tensed in his arms, "Don't _lie_ to me, Sirius Black! I suppose that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with me, that I just accidentally ran into him and that was that? That you just _happened_ to recognize him and decided that you wanted to fight him in the middle of Diagon Alley? That's bullshit!"

Sirius sighed, defeated, "I'm sorry, Love, I just didn't want to repeat it...he wanted to turn you and then use you for _breeding_ purposes, if you **must** know."

The tension in her body increased tenfold, and she finally blurted out, "**What!**..._Why_?"

"Have I really been that forgetful of telling you how beautiful you are?" Sirius pulled his head away from its resting place to stare into her eyes, "You're absolutely fucking _gorgeous_, Love." When she didn't relax any, he joked, "Better looking than _me_ even!"

That had the desired effect when she couldn't help but laugh. She finally managed to say, "Oh, I doubt that. It isn't _me_ who has women _and_ men fawning all over him when we go out." It was true, he had to admit. Whenever they felt that they were in a neighbor that was devoid of magic enough for his face not to have gotten spread around, he did risk going out as himself, and Alex did always get so jealous of the attention he got that he had to stop her from killing someone.

"That's only because you aren't half as intimidating as I am," he told her the truth, "When people see you hanging on my arm they don't think of you as a big enough threat to stop them from openly flirting or staring at me. When people see me shadowing you they think twice about coming after you, especially when I glare at them...You just don't have down the glare of certain death yet, is all."

She laughed again as she shifted to get more comfortable. She hit her back against the corner of the photo album, and started in surprise. He brought his arm around to show her what it was, and she stared at it in confusion.

"You haven't looked at that in years," she finally said.

"I know," he answered her, "Today just brought back a lot of memories." He didn't want to discuss his feelings on Remus at the moment, not even with Alex. He just didn't think that he could handle it at this point.

Luckily, she decided to let it go. They sat in companionable silence for a few more moments, until Sirius felt his skin begin to bubble. He sighed in relief when the feeling finally subsided, and was glad to know that he was finally back to himself again. Alex was apparently very happy about it, too. With a muttered "finally", she lunged forward and kissed him hard.

By the time they broke away from each other's mouths, Sirius had his hands buried under her shirt, and Alex had her hands pulling on his belt buckle. They both paused for a moment as they locked eyes, but soon enough Alex leaned forward again to mutter against his mouth, "I hate it when you take that potion. I want you available _all_ the time."

"Yes, I guess it _would_ be strange to shag me when I look like my brother," Sirius laughed.

Alex's hand moving inside his pants succeeded in wiping the smile off of his face and turning his laugh into a gasp. She managed to make him groan and arch further into her touch before she unceremoniously pulled away and stood up. He could do nothing but stare at her, gaping like an idiot. Her melodious laughter trailed behind her as she walked into the bedroom. Sirius stared at the door she had disappeared through for all of two seconds before he was on his feet and literally _running_ after her.

She was waiting for him on the bed, lounging against the headboard lazily. He moved forward, and was a hairbreadth away from pouncing on top of her when she moved to stop him. She sat up in front of him and placed her hands against his stomach to halt his progress. He almost groaned in protest, but then her hands moved to push his robes off of his shoulders, and he really had no reason to complain. She next moved to the buttons on his shirt, unbuttoning them at what seemed like the slowest possible speed she could do it. Finally, when his upper body was completely bare, she stood and leaned against him to press kisses along his chest, which was really as high as she could reach, as she moved her hands down to take care of his trousers.

After what seemed like forever, he finally allowed her to lead him onto the bed. She was finally able to reach his mouth without problems, and she leaned forward to kiss him passionately. She broke away all too soon, and Sirius couldn't help but notice that she was still wearing every single article of clothing minus her robes, which she had shed upon arriving back at the hotel.

"Aren't you a little overdressed, Love?" he finally managed to grind out, "This hardly seems fair." He motioned to his own completely bare body.

Alex smiled at him and held out her hand. It only took him a few moments to realize that she had summoned something, because three colorful blurs came speeding through the door and into her outstretched palm. He couldn't see what she had, but he found out soon enough when she muttered a spell, and suddenly his wrists were bound to the headboard. He glanced over in surprise to see silk scarves holding him in place.

Alex smiled and leaned forward to barely brushed her lips against his, "I picked them up in Madam Malkin's today. Don't you just love them?"

"I don't know exactly how I feel about them yet," he replied suspiciously.

Her giggle was light, but her voice was heavy with lust as she spoke, "Now that the stupid potion has worn off, I plan on reacquainting myself with you."

Sirius was on the verge of asking just how she was planning on doing that when another muttered spell on her part sent the remaining scarf around his eyes in a blindfold. It took him a few seconds to realize what had happened, and by that time he couldn't feel Alex anywhere near him. Her body wasn't brushing his at all, and he had no idea where she was. He was just about to call out her name when he suddenly became _extremely_ aware of her present location.

A tortured moan escaped his throat as she pressed a teasing kiss to his pubic bone. She moved to kiss the other side, and he could feel her long hair brushing against him. Her next kiss was against his stomach, and Sirius was actively cursing the scarves holding him in place. He had tried everything he knew how to get out of them, but apparently they were charmed unbreakable, and Alex was _very_ good at binding spells. After what seemed like _forever_, she finally stopped teasing him.

Despite his best efforts to stay still, he couldn't help but writhe against the sheets. For someone who had only done this particular thing a handful of times (mostly due to the fact that Sirius was _way_ too impatient to just sit there) she was **very** good at it. He groaned again as she did something decidedly wonderful with her tongue, and she happily repeated the action. He was just about to completely lose himself to the feeling when she pulled back without warning. Another tortured sound was ripped from his throat, but she ignored his pleas.

Instead of putting him out of his misery, she moved up his body, leaving a hot trail of kisses as she went. She stopped to concentrate on his chest for a few minutes before she finally moved up to his neck. She kissed and sucked along his jaw line for a few moments, ultimately decided to bite down hard into his neck.

Sirius was almost ready to start begging when she leaned in close to his ear and whispered, "Do you want me?"

Any shred of manly dignity he had been trying to hold onto flew right out the door. "_Yes_," he moaned out, "_Please_...Merlin, Alex...**_Please_**..."

The first thing he was aware of was her hands on his shoulders and her fingernails digging into his skin. The next thing he felt – and it was significantly better than the previous thing – was the feeling of their bodies joining together. Both of them let out moans of relief at the feeling.

As she started moving, he realized that she was going to take it slow. That really didn't agree with what his body wanted, but it felt so good that he could do nothing but give in to her anyway. Sirius wished that he could see her. He could even live with not touching her if he could just _watch_ her. His thoughts were abruptly gone as he felt her shift. He cried out at the different feeling as she leaned forward to meet his mouth with hers. The kiss was soft and gentle to match their pace, but it was no less passionate than the harder ones earlier in the night.

Alex bit down on his lip suddenly. He only had the briefest of seconds to notice the flash of pain before her muscles quivering around him blocked out every other feeling in the world. Hearing her scream out his name completely shot his control to hell. He groaned out to meet her own moans, and the entire world was centered around just the two of them, if only for those moments.

-------------------

Alex woke to cool, soft sheets. Normally a person would be perfectly happy to wake to such a thing, but Alex wasn't. She much preferred the hot, hard chest of the man she shared the bed with. She rolled over to see if she might run into him, but that only resulted in her laying on her stomach instead of her side. Well, at least she could smell him now that she was face first in his pillow. She sighed in defeat and finally opened her eyes to look around the room. He wasn't anywhere to be found...Honestly, _she_ was always in bed when _he_ woke up...Could he not be a _little_ more courteous?

Well, Alex wasn't going to humor him by getting up to find him. She blew her hair out of her face, where it was tickling her nose, and attempted to go back to sleep. No sooner did she get settled back down than she felt the bed dip under the additional weight of a new occupant. She felt his breath on the side of her neck briefly before he leaned down to kiss it, and then his weight was suddenly bared down on her as he rested his head between her shoulder blades in an impromptu pillow, which was only fair since she was burrowed into his real one.

"Where were you?" she yawned out sleepily.

He made a muffled sigh into her back, "Owl."

She sighed back at him, "This early?"

"Time difference," he caught onto the yawn, contagious as they are.

Alex made a sound of understanding, which was muffled as she turned her head further into the pillow.

She was about to forfeit paying Sirius any attention at all when his hands started running lightly up her bare sides. She realized what he was going to do just before he did it, but it was already too late to stop him. Fingers dug into her sides, and she let out a noise that was halfway between a laugh and a shriek. He continued to tickle her sides unmercifully even as she tried her best to fight him off. She was in no position to help herself, however, since she was on her stomach and pinned down by his body resting against her back. Finally, after a screamed out plea for mercy that was borderline begging, he ceased the movement of his fingers and ran his hands under her to rest against her chest instead.

"Turnabout is fair play," was whispered hoarsely into her ear.

Seconds later, she was turned over onto her back, and he was hovering over her with eyes as pitch-black with lust as they could possibly be. He kissed her hard and deep, dominating it as only he could do. The next thing she knew, her own scarves were being used against her and she was secured to the bed.

Sirius broke away from her mouth to trail down her body, pausing only briefly to say, "Let this be a lesson to you, Love...never let it be said that I allowed someone to out do me, even you."

--------------------

The next time Alex awoke it was to sunshine glaring in her eyes and hunger tearing at her stomach. Sirius was propped up on an elbow looking at her. He smiled and leaned down to kiss her when he saw that she was awake, and Alex kissed him back eagerly.

When he pulled back, Alex smiled back up at him, "How long have you been watching me?"

"Only a few minutes, Love," he replied. "Are you hungry?" he asked after a particularly loud growl was emitted from her stomach.

She nodded in the affirmative, and Sirius rolled out of bed with a sigh. She watched with interest as he moved around the room, but finally snapped out of it when he tugged on his favorite pair of sweat pants. She looked up to catch his eyes, and was met with the self-satisfied smirk he was aiming in her direction. She grinned back at him unashamedly and got out of bed herself.

She bent over to pick up one of Sirius's discarded t-shirts, and was in the process of finding a pair of pajama bottoms to put on when he stopped her, "Don't bother."

Alex laughed and spun around to continue her search, ignoring his protests. She was just about to put on the shirt when his arm came around her waist. She was lifted up off the floor and pressed against his chest as he held her bridal style. He glared at the t-shirt, which was still clutched loosely in her hand, and it was incinerated even as she glared contemptuously at him. He raised an eyebrow at the look on her face, and proceeded to ignore it as he literally carried her into the kitchen.

"Put me down!" Alex let out the half-hearted demand as Sirius took a seat at the table, bringing her to rest in his lap.

He ignored her completely and moved on to his own question, "What would you like to eat, Love?"

She glared at him for a few seconds longer, but ultimately realized that it would be futile to argue with him. Instead, she sighed as she replied, "I don't know."

"Well, it's nearly lunchtime," he started playing with a strand of her long hair, "What do you say we go see what kind of local cafes and bistros they have around here?"

"That sounds wonderful," Alex leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, and then attempted once more to wiggle out of his embrace.

He tightened his grip around her as he asked, "Just where do you think you're going?"

Alex finally gave up and crossed her arms across her bare chest as she pouted at him, "You _do_ realize that getting dressed is required for going out?"

"Oh, yeah, that _is_ a major drawback," he swooped down to catch her pouting lips with his own, "I vote we just stay here and have sex."

"We've done that already...more than once, even!" she huffed at him, "and now I'm _hungry_!"

Sirius huffed back at her, "Well, I'm _horny_!"

"I need food to continue surviving!" Alex argued with him, "Otherwise I'll die and you'll have to find someone else to put up with your crazy, overworked libido!"

After a few long seconds of intense glaring competition, Sirius finally sighed, "**Fine**! I'll just be miserable for the whole time it takes you to eat!"

"Thank you for being so generous," she intoned sarcastically, then added, "Sometimes I wonder if it was a wise idea to trap you in the body of a twenty-two-year-old."

"Well, you weren't complaining a few hours ago," he informed her arrogantly.

Alex really had no leg to stand on in that argument. He was completely right: she _never_ complained about him while she was using his young, hot, hard body to her own benefit (as he had pointed out on _numerous_ occasions using those exact same words). Instead of trying to outdo him in an argument that she didn't stand a chance of winning in the first place, she shot him the most disdainful look that she could possibly manage as she finally broke out of his grasp.

It was only sometime later – when she was in the shower in preparation for an afternoon of sightseeing, exploring, and window shopping – that she realized her mistake...It was simply _impossible_ for her to resist him for long periods of time. He was just way too persuasive! How appealing he looked didn't exactly help matters either. She finally gave up the battle of eating any time soon when she heard the shower door open and felt arms wrap around her from behind. In the end, the local cafes and bistros would have to wait a while for them to make an appearance.

--------------------

A/N: Well, as of right now I see that 35 people have read the last chapter, but only **1 **reviewed it. I do realize that most people don't think that their review matters anyway...that some of you might figure that I won't miss it if you don't review. Well, that's completely wrong...I **love**reviews. Even if you just feel like writing one sentence in the format of "I loved this and this" or "I think you could improve this and this" I would still love to hear it...I'm half tempted to say that I'm holding the next chapter for ransom until I get a certain number of reviews...I just such a notice on this other story I was reading and I thought it was kind of funny...


	33. Some Kind of Therapy

A/N: Sorry that this one isn't full of action after such a long wait...longer than usual anyway. However, I'm sure you'll figure out after reading it that there is some action on the way.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Sirius collapsed in a heap on the couch as they finally arrived in their hotel room. It had been several weeks after their morning in Diagon Alley, and Alex was still milking the event as an excuse to do therapy shopping. It wasn't that Sirius didn't let her buy whatever the hell she wanted anyway, he just never willingly spent all day _looking_ for things she wanted to buy. They'd decided to move out of Europe for a while since security was bound to be heightened for a while due to the Boy-Who-Lived's arrival back in the Wizarding World. Alex had been the one to insist that they move on to America. Sirius had been a fool to believe that she'd _really_ just wanted to reacquaint herself with the lifestyle (muggles in the U.S. were admittedly quite amusing).

They hadn't been in Los Angeles five minutes before Alex announced that they were going shopping. He'd been dragged up and down every shopping district in the entire city! Not just clothes, either. Oh, _no_, Alex couldn't stop at just buying a small fortune's worth of _clothes_. She had forced him into shoe stores, stores with nothing but purses, stories with nothing but sunglasses, and many other things that he'd been too busy daydreaming to notice. The only part he'd enjoyed – and he'd enjoyed it _immensely_ – was the lingerie store. It hadn't been half bad to sit through her trying things on there.

His good mood had rapidly disappeared as she'd announced that they were moving on to Beverly Hills the next day. Much to his dismay, she'd decided that they should move on to New York City the day after she'd exhausted the stores of Beverly Hills of any article of clothing that she even _kind of_ liked, and every accessory that she thought she _might_ have something to even remotely match. Sirius was so upset over the fact that he was going to have to go to all of New York City's shopping hot spots that he hadn't even been able to argue! Not that arguing would have helped anyway.

Now he could barely move. He didn't tire much (or at all) from battles and fights, but make him walk around behind a woman and carry her shopping bags all day and he could barely stand up! Alex, on the other hand, was practically bouncing off of the walls. The excitement and satisfaction was radiating off of her quite noticeably. As she walked towards him with the brightest smile on her face he might have ever seen there, the clicking of her heels on the floor drew his attention. How in _hell_ had she walked around all day in _those_ shoes?

He didn't have the chance to ask as she threw herself onto him. He let out a grunt as the weight of the girl (as tiny as she was) landing square on his stomach knocked the breath out of him. She was literally bouncing from her place perched on top of him, and she ignored his gasp for breath as she leaned down to kiss him. Suddenly, Sirius didn't give a rat's ass covered in chocolate if he could breathe or not. Unfortunately, his lungs cared very much and he ultimately had to shove Alex upwards away from his mouth so he could suck in much needed oxygen.

Alex wasn't put off at all by him ending the kiss, and she continued to beam at him happily as she exclaimed, "Oh, Sirius, this was the most wonderful day ever!"

He was still panting heavily trying to recover from his recent bout with suffocation, but he managed to ask between breaths, "Even more wonderful than California?"

"Of course!" she stared at him in wide-eyed disbelief that she was having to explain the situation to him, "I bought _much_ more today than I have anywhere else!"

Sirius laughed out loud at her. Alex was the picture of innocent youth as she bounced excitedly and chatted away about all of her purchases. She was acting as if she was a teenaged girl gossiping away with her friends. It was really quite ironic that the innocent looking teenager straddling his stomach (which wasn't very innocent in and of itself now that he thought about it) was actually a twenty-seven-year-old with a fiery temper, quite a talent for killing, and a sex drive to almost rival his (and _that_ was saying something considering the fact that he would bend her over the table at a five star restaurant in the middle of dinner while everyone was watching without a care or remorse in the world...and had really almost done it until she'd read his thoughts and he'd gotten into trouble). She had been innocent when she'd met him, but he'd had years and years to remedy that situation. She didn't have an innocent cell in her entire body anymore. The things she let him do to her were nothing a parent wanted their teenager to know about (not that they didn't know anyway). No, her angelic demeanor at the moment was as far from the truth as she could possibly get.

All of her movement had caused the charm she was wearing around her neck to slip out from under her shirt, making it clearly visible dangling between her breasts. Sirius completely blocked out what she was saying as he stared at the pendant and remembered all of the times he'd seen it hanging there before. He _really_ wished she didn't have a shirt on right now...it just looked so much better sparkling against her bare skin. The "S" hanging on a chain around her neck had everything to do with his name and nothing to do with hers, obviously. It wasn't meant to be seen by anyone other than the two of them as it was an extremely personal token, and hung on a very long chain, resting between her breasts and easily kept covered by her clothes. He'd given it to her to remind her that he would always be with her since she'd always had insecure moments after finding out that she couldn't give him children, and she almost never took it off. He greatly enjoyed seeing it on her since it branded her as his (he would have made her an appointment to get his name tattooed on her chest instead if he'd thought that she would have gone for it).

"Sirius!" her annoyed voice finally broke through to him, "Are you even _listening_?"

He shrugged, "No." He didn't even take his eyes off of her chest until she crossed her arms over it furiously, effectively blocking his view anyway.

Alex glared at him angrily, and moved to get off of him. She immediately came to a stop when she came in contact with the reason he wasn't listening. Sirius himself groaned as she managed to accidentally grind against him. His hands shot to her hips to hold her in place, and she didn't resist him at all. On the contrary, she reached down to assist him with unbuckling his belt, which was a good thing since his mind was so consumed with desire that he wouldn't have had the coordination to undo it himself. He did, however, manage quite nicely to get his hands under her skirt and rip away the tiny bit of lace that she liked to pretend constituted as underwear (not that he was complaining about it other than the fact that she still felt the need to wear any at all).

He sighed in relief as Alex finally managed to win the wrestling match she'd been having with his zipper and the extremely uncomfortable pressure was suddenly gone. His hands were removed from where they'd been exploring underneath her skirt and were replaced back onto her hips. They locked eyes just as he used his grip to bring her down onto him roughly. Whimpers and gasps accompanied the movement, but she made no move to resist him. It was only when she couldn't possibly move any further that she moved her hands down against his stomach to stop her descent.

Sirius gave it a few seconds before he grew completely impatient as she worked to regain her composure. He was just itching for one of them to move, but he couldn't possibly force her to do it. He was just contemplating the fact that she hadn't in any way implied that _he_ couldn't move when she suddenly took away the need for him to think on it. As a matter of fact, she took away any rational thought he might have had. He was so lost in the feeling that nothing could have gotten his attention. Nothing, that is, except for the glimmer against her chest that caught his eye.

He moved his thumbs underneath the hem of her shirt as he positioned his hands at the front of her body instead of over her hips. With a single motion, he ripped open her top, sending buttons flying across the room in every direction. His eyes locked onto her chest, where the charm was now dangling between her breasts. He hadn't even been aware of Alex's eyes opened and watching him until one of her hands left his stomach and grabbed one of his. She brought his hand up towards her chest, and he didn't even wait for her to complete the action as he caught on to what she was doing. He accepted the invitation enthusiastically, his hand shooting towards its destination with no further assistance on her part.

Everything just escalated from there. It took only a few more minutes for everything to come crashing down around them both. Afterwards, Alex lay collapsed against his chest as they both panted for breath from the exertion. After a few minutes, Sirius's mind finally caught up with him and he had his first original thought of the hour. He rolled them over, magically enlarging the couch as he did it so that he wouldn't be dropping Alex onto the floor.

She went without protest, coming to rest bonelessly against the cushions. Sirius gave himself a few more moments to catch his breath again before he pulled back to look at her. She was sprawled out aimlessly with her eyes closed and her lips parted to draw in gasps of air. Her skirt was bunched around her hips and her shirt was opened and hanging off of her form. The "S" pendant was still situated between her breasts provocatively, and it sparkled in the sunlight that was coming through the window as her chest heaved up and down with every breath. He reached up to trace a fingertip lightly along her chest. Turquoise eyes, still half-glazed over with lust, opened to catch his piercing gaze.

"Did I hurt you?" he stroked her gently in an attempt to comfort her if he had.

"Yes," she said shortly, but at his almost stricken look she added, "It's okay, though. It turned into a good hurt after a while."

Sirius decided to change the subject and forwent teasing her to trap the glittering pendant between his fingers instead. He tugged gently on the chain as he spoke, "This little thing has come in handy hasn't it?"

Alex stared at him for a moment before replying softly, "Yes. It has."

"I just _knew_ there was some reason why I spent days looking up that curse," he said as one of her small hands came up to grasp his.

"I thought you just didn't want anyone who isn't you to touch me," she brought up her other hand to stroke his hair affectionately.

Sirius leaned into her touch like a dog seeking attention (ironically enough), "I _don't_ want anyone touching you, Love. Of course, the fact that _you_ yourself don't want to be touched was more of an incentive than what I personally wanted."

He sighed contentedly as Alex snuggled more securely against him. Neither spoke again as they held each other tightly. Sirius's mind was back to the day he'd decided to gift Alex with her charm necklace. It had been hard to keep it a secret from her that something was going on. Especially since she knew that he was getting her a gift, and she was curious as hell to know what it was. It had taken him almost a week to look up the curse that he wanted. It was an archaic curse meant to keep witches pure until marriage and then faithful to their husbands throughout their lives. It made it impossible for men to touch her when she put on a cursed article (the charm in Alex's case) except for those who had the counter curse in the form of a ring or some other inconspicuous item, which was only given to men who were in her family and to her fiancé or husband. If a man tried to touch her he would be magically burned, which was a telltale way of knowing who it was since it took a very long time to brew the potion to heal this particular magical burn.

The curse, despite it's barbaric intentions, was really quite useful for Alex since she hated to be touched. Sirius had even added in a little something that made it so women couldn't touch her either. Sirius and Draco were the only two people who had the counter curse, so they were the only ones who could touch her without getting severely burned (which generally made anyone trying to grab her let go immediately). The necklace had proved itself many times over the years. The incident with Greyback was just the latest in a long line of them.

Alex shifted in his arms, effectively breaking him out of his thoughts. She leaned up and brushed her lips softly against his as she got up. He leaned back and watched as she pulled down her skirt and then sighed as she inspected her ruined shirt. She looked at the buttons scattered around the floor with a roll of her eyes as she let the shirt slide off of her arms and onto the floor. Sirius watched disheartenedly as she walked towards the bedroom.

"What are you doing?" he yelled after her.

She called back to him from the bedroom, "Getting ready."

Sirius lay there for several minutes longer before he mustered up the strength to pick himself up off the couch. He rolled to his feet with a sigh and padded into the bedroom, refastening his trousers as he went. Alex wasn't in the bedroom when he walked in, but he could hear the shower running. He moved into the bathroom to join her, but, much to his disappointment, the water shut off just as he was entering. Alex stepped out of the shower and moved to the mirror without even sparing him a second glance.

He kept silent and watched her for a few moments before he couldn't take it anymore and had to ask, "What exactly are you getting ready for?"

Alex stopped drying her long hair to turn around and stare at him, "You're taking me out."

"When did I say that?" he couldn't help but ask in surprise.

"Never," she cocked an eyebrow at him as if to dare him to challenge her, "I just decided."

Sirius spluttered at her in a most undignified manner, "_When_ did this happen?"

"A few minutes ago...you know, just after I shagged you senseless for no real reason," she answered flippantly as she turned back around to continue fixing her hair, flicking him in the face with it as she spun.

Sirius sighed in defeat, knowing that there was no way to argue with her when her mind was made up about something. Instead, he grumbled to himself as he stepped into the shower. He might as well get ready for a night of doing whatever the hell she wanted.

--------------------

The pounding in her head was the first noticeable thing upon waking. The next was the pain in her hand. It was hard, insistent, and painful. She moaned in protest as she tried to yank it back away from the edge of the couch and bring it closer to her body. For a moment that helped, but then the same sensation started going through her head, which was already hurting enough as it was.

With a sigh of defeat, she broke out of the half-daze she was still in. She opened her eyes to see what exactly the hell was bothering her, and jumped in surprise as she looked straight into a pair of bright yellow eyes. She didn't have any room at all to get away from the eyes, however, since Sirius was lying right behind her. She slammed into his chest in her effort to scramble backwards, elbowing him right in the stomach while she was at it.

Just about the time that Sirius shot up with black energy crackling around him and a murderous look on his face, his touch had already managed to calm Alex down enough for her to realize what horrible monster she was facing. An owl was perched furiously on the arm of the couch, looking at her as if she was a mouse it needed to claw to death. Alex blamed the hangover for making her so jumpy.

Even as she breathed a sigh of relief, Sirius was tensing, "What is it, Love? Why are you afraid?"

"I'm fine, Sirius," she wasn't about to admit to the world class assassin that an owl had scared the hell out of her, so she leaned into him with a smile, "It was just a bad dream."

"It must have been one hell of a nightmare," he wrapped his arms around her in comfort.

The dark power literally radiating off of him had yet to go away, and Alex knew that it would take a while for him to gain complete control again. Whereas it would most likely either kill or destroy whatever else he touched, it enveloped her lovingly. It was as if this energy was literally an extension of him. It ran along her skin, caressing her gently and affectionately and instantly making the pain she felt in her head and the nausea she felt in her stomach vanish without a trace.

She tilted her head up for a kiss, "I'm better now."

Sirius looked at her for a moment in indecision, ultimately shaking his head, "I don't think you want my breath anywhere near you this morning, Love...Do you really feel alright?"

He had a right to be concerned. They hadn't exactly been sober the night before. They _definitely_ hadn't taken it easy. She had to look back and laugh at the memory now that she was herself again:

_Alex couldn't help the giggle that escaped her mouth as Sirius grabbed her from behind. He wrapped his arm around her waist and spun her around, going in for a kiss to her mouth. Unfortunately, he missed his target and ended up pressing a wet, sloppy kiss to the side of her chin. That just caused Alex to giggle more, and Sirius was chuckling along with her as he pulled back to look at her._

"_Oh dear Merlin...I didn't realize we had that much to drink..." he mused with a lopsided grin._

_Alex shook her head furiously, "I'm not drunk."_

_With that, she stepped back so that she could turn away and go into their hotel room. She tripped on her five inch heels in mid-spin, and ended up clutching back onto Sirius to keep her balance. He stumbled when her weight was suddenly added to throw him off what little balance he had while drunk, but managed to keep both of them upright. They stumbled through the door while still hanging all over each other, and both just managed to make it to the couch before they finally collapsed._

She smiled lightly at him, "I _did_ feel like a troll stepped on my head, but you've made me all better." She indicated the magic emitting from his body in waves, then looked at him guiltily, "Oh, Sirius, I bet you feel horrible! Why didn't you say anything?"

Just like that, she reverted into her protective mode. She brought on her own energy to her fingertips and reached up to trace along his face lightly. After a few moments, she moved her hands up to tangle in his hair, massaging as she went. He groaned and let his eyes fall closed as he leaned into her touch. After a minute or two, she pulled back to observe him critically. He was breathing deeply and looked relaxed, so she deemed her work as complete.

Just as she was about to speak again, the owl let out a derisive hoot as if came flying over to her. It pecked at her head and pulled at her hair, supposedly in an attempt to get her attention once more. Sirius's anger flared up and he sent a stunning spell at the animal just centimeters away from a particularly hard peck.

He pried the letter out of it's grip, snorting as he caught a glimpse of the handwriting on the front of the envelope, "I'm going to buy that boy a new owl. Damn Malfoy owls..."

At that, Alex forgot all about the owl as she perked up, "Draco?"

She didn't wait for an answer before she ripped the letter away from Sirius's grasp. She only spared a glance at her and Sirius's names printed in Draco's small, appropriately stately script before she ripped open the envelope. She took the parchment out, tossed the envelope aside without a care as to where it ended up landing, and unfolded her letter to see what her favorite boy had to say.

_Sirius and Alex,_

_I'm sorry you had to leave like that in Diagon Alley. At least we got to say goodbye, Alex. I didn't even get to say goodbye to you, Sirius, so I'll have to pass them along now even if it **is** a little late._

_I told Father about meeting Harry Potter in Madam Malkin's. I told him pretty much the truth: that I told Harry I'm going to be in first year, like quidditch, and am a pureblood. I made sure to tell him that "I conducted myself just like you taught me to act". I think that he couldn't decide whether or not that's a good thing. He stared at me for a few seconds and then told me that he needed to do some work but that he would call me back for a serious discussion later. I don't know what he wants to talk about, but I hope it doesn't have anything to do with Harry Potter...I'm sick of hearing about some boy whom I don't even know._

_I'm really excited about Hogwarts – **only six more days!**_ _Mother and I didn't get to finish my school shopping because we left Diagon Alley just a few minutes after you did. It was total chaos, but we just went back yesterday to finish up. I thought about seeing if you could come again just one last time before I leave for school, but I knew that it was too dangerous anyway._

_I'm really looking forward to trying out my new presents once I get to Hogwarts, you know. The invisibility cloak has already come in **really** useful for Blaise and me here at the Manor, but we can't wait to try out some of the secret rooms and passageways you wrote down on my list. _

_I hope you aren't too far away that you won't get this before I leave for school, because I want to talk on the mirrors just once more before it's too dangerous when I'm at Hogwarts. I would call you myself, but I don't know where you are or if it's safe. I almost can't believe it's really time for me to go! _

_Well, I hope you two are having fun wherever you are._

_Draco_

Alex looked up from reading out loud to stare at Sirius, "What do you think Lucius could possibly have to talk about to Draco?"

A scowl was plastered to his face as he answered, "You mean besides death eaters, Voldemort, and Harry?"

"You think he would honestly tell his _eleven-year-old_ about Voldemort?" she stared at him incredulously.

"Yes, Love, I think he would," Sirius wrapped an arm around her as he laid his chin on her shoulder to look over it and read the letter for himself. After a few moments, he spoke again, "He's going to Hogwarts. Lucius will see the value in that. He already wants Draco to be friends with Harry, plus the boy will _probably_ be in Slytherin so he'll be good for getting other kids interested in death eaters."

Alex incinerated the letter in a fit of rage. The magic surrounding her body flew automatically to Sirius, where it ran along his skin as affectionately as if she was running her hands over him. He let out a sigh of contentment as he used his arm around her to pull her even further against him. She wasn't really in the mood for cuddling, however, and she glared at the room in general as she spoke, "I'm not going to sit here and let Draco get hurt."

It didn't need to be said that she was referring to the time when Lucius discovered that his son wasn't the perfect death eater in training. Sirius was silent for a few moments, but when she felt him take a deep breath, Alex knew he was about to speak. She wasn't disappointed as he said, "I think maybe it's time to go back." Alex had no words as she turned in his arms to stare at him, and he soldiered on, "Besides being worried about Draco...now that Harry is out of hiding and has rejoined the wizarding world at school, death eater activity is bound to start rising. It's only a matter of time before Voldemort comes back, Love, and I have to be there to help Harry."

"Do you think we might find Pettigrew if we go back?" she asked after a moment of hesitation.

Sirius tensed, "I hope so, Love. I'm always on the lookout for news of him...you know that...but right now the most important thing is keeping both Harry and Draco safe."

Alex could see his feelings as clear as though he was actually telling her what he was thinking. He had an overwhelming fear settling in the pit of his stomach, which was something a person would _never_ attribute to Sirius Black. Alex, however, knew the truth. She had been woken up by his screams far too many times over the years to not realize how utterly _terrified_ he was of going back to Azkaban. She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly in the only way she knew to comfort him.

After a few minutes, she ventured to ask in a quiet voice, "Sirius, love...are you sure you want to go back?" She only ever referred to him as that particular adjective when she was comforting him from his nightmares, but luckily for both of them it worked just as well to help soothe him now.

"It doesn't matter what I _want_, Alex," he sighed deeply against her neck, "The fact remains that Draco is in serious danger from the deranged, psychopathic megalomaniac who calls himself his father...and Voldemort might very well have at least one supporter who musters up the balls to help him return to power now that Harry is back in the picture."

Alex heard the conviction in his tone of voice, and realized that his mind was made up no matter how much it hurt him mentally to return to such a close proximity with aurors, the Order, and Dumbledore. She turned her head slightly to kiss his temple as she moved the teensy tiny little bit that it was possible to wriggle closer to him while still clothed.

"How will we do it?" she asked him curiously.

Sirius was silent for a minute or two, in which Alex knew he was going over every possible course of action in his brilliant mind, before he spoke, "Where we'll live is still up in the air at this point, but I have a fairly good plan to find out exactly what would be the safest thing to do as far as that goes. As for how we'll go about keeping the boys safe...well, let's just say that purebloods are an extremely easy group of people to manipulate."

"Oh, I have no doubt of that," Alex said, before adding in the obvious, "When they aren't busy flooing up the Ministry and collecting their rewards for turning in the infamous Sirius Black."

Sirius chuckled dryly and humorlessly, "You underestimate the power of blood, my love. They wouldn't dare to turn in the last member of the most ancient and noble house of Black...Besides, most of them are in a constant state of hero worship towards me for being Voldemort's right hand."

"But you aren't," Alex once again stated the obvious, as it seemed to be the only thing to say at that point.

"There are only a handful of death eaters, if _that_, who I would think actually have the complete roster of Voldemort's supporters. They're the only ones who know that I am not, in fact, a death eater. The majority of death eaters only know a tiny little fraction of other people who are in their club, and those are usually their family and friends and the obvious ones who _everyone_ knows is one. It helps to keep down gossip and unions among the ranks if no one in your army knows whether or not their peers are actually death eaters or if it's safe to say anything in front of a certain person. Most of the spineless bastards have absolutely no clue that I wasn't close to their dark lord, much less that I'm not a death eater at all," Sirius explained, adding with a derisive snort, "The ones who pose a problem for us will just have to be killed...whether or not they have good information."

Alex smiled at this obvious sign that Sirius wasn't going to be _all_ that affected by moving back. If there was any indication that he was still himself, it was the fact that he was so excited over the prospect of eradicating the world of a few more good-for-nothing, half-blood worshiping, hypocritical idiots.

The _quite_ obvious reaction of his body to her close proximity was another sure sign that he wasn't going to turn into a frightened lump of goo anytime soon. Said reaction was pressing against her very insistently, and all other conversation was soon forgotten. Not that any more talk was necessary on the subject anyway...They were going back home, and that decision wouldn't be altered in any way by idle chit chat. With that thought in mind, they quickly engaged in their favorite activity, and left the problems of the day to be considered at a more convenient time.

--------------------

A/N: Okay, so nothing at all happened in this chapter...my apologies to those of you who were actually looking forward to some major action. You know how these transitional chapters are. Then again, I for one am very excited about what this chapter opens up to happen later! I hope no one is **too** disappointed...maybe if you review I'll get the next (and _way_ better) chapter up soon!


	34. First Day Back

A/N: We now have a chapter where a couple of things actually happen! Amazing isn't it? It's been so long and all, and in this chapter something actually happens _and_ you get a little preview or two of the future if you're bright enough to figure it out (and I hope you are)...There are some actual canon characters in this one...there are also a couple of new characters introduced, one of which will be extremely important later on (it's up to you to guess which one). I hope you like it, since I feel like it's been so long since a _good_ chapter was up...I was getting kind of sick of the "filler" chapters leading up to this...too bad they were necessary to get to this point. I think I'm too biased to say whether or not this chapter is good, but I hope it's good enough to make up for the ones that weren't the best.

Chapter Thirty-Four

The tension in the air was palpable to both of them as they walked briskly down the sidewalk. It was a fairly simple task as far as missions into enemy territory go: they were simply going to break into an apartment and wait for the owner to get home. They weren't going into battle, infiltrating Order headquarters, or spying on death eaters, but Alex was still nervous. She blamed the fact that it was their first day back in London. As a matter of fact, it was their first _hours_ back in London. They had taken a muggle airplane into London to avoid detection, and had immediately left the airport to go to their present location.

The situation was extremely dangerous in her opinion, although Sirius seemed extremely confident that everything was perfectly fine. There was a space of no less than two meters between them. He was walking on the side closest to the street, an air of confidence radiating off of him that effectively masked the fact that he was extremely wary of and aware of his surroundings. She, on the other hand, was sticking close to the buildings and masking her presence in the shadows. She truly had no reason to worry for her own safety, though, since her companion was sure to attract so much attention to himself that no one would notice her at all. Unfortunately, she happened to worry over him even more than she worried about herself, and having him stroll around like he owned the neighborhood didn't sit well with her in the least.

"Sirius," she finally hissed after he received a particularly flirtatious glance from a passing teenaged girl, "stop it!"

He looked over at her with a raised eyebrow, "Stop _what_?"

She matched him glare for glare, "Stop drawing so much damned attention to yourself! You have a forune on your head, for Merlin's sake!"

"I can't help it that people look at me!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, you'd be better off if you weren't half so breathtakingly gorgeous," she scrunched her nose up in distaste for the situation.

Sirius decided to humor her and stepped further into the shadows and took measures to get himself off the radar (which he was good at, when he wanted to be) even as he looked at her in mock shock, "You think I'm breathtakingly gorgeous?"

Alex pretended to not have even heard him as she went on, "Or since I wouldn't want to punish myself with only an _average_ lover, maybe it would be better if you just didn't _know_ that you were handsome."

He took her elbow and steered her discreetly onto another street as he asked humorously, "Are you planning on Obliviating me of that particular bit of knowledge?"

"Now there's an idea!" Alex said half seriously, then added in a much more somber tone, "Of course, you'd look at yourself in the mirror and see how wonderful you are all over again anyway, so it would be a pointless endeavor for me to try it."

Alex watched out of the corner of her eye as his face lit up at the compliments he was receiving. He slipped his arm around her waist and slid his hand down teasingly slow along her back and backside until he finally slipped it into her back pocket. She gasped as he squeezed roughly, and he chuckled low in his throat as he tugged her even closer to him. She went willingly, placing her own arm around his waist in return. The street was dark and she was glad for the close contact. She tightened her hold on him in nervousness as they continued to walk along.

The neighborhood wasn't in a bad part of town, but it was in a fairly cheap area nonetheless. It was a blatantly obvious starter neighborhood: teenagers just out of school, newleyweds, people with their first jobs...They were nice and appeared to be maintained pretty well, but the sheer number and closeness of the narrow apartment buildings gave away the smallness of the flats they contained. It was clear that the object was affordability and not necessarily comfort in this situation. It was also clear that the neighborhood was brimming full of young, naïve people who would make wonderfully convenient victims for thieves and the like. Sirius and Alex would obviously be horrible targets. They would probably be the _last_ victim anyone ever chose, in fact, but it was the confrontation itself that Alex didn't want to deal with. She just wanted to get this whole ordeal over with.

She was still under the impression that Sirius had completely lost his mind. It was only through extremely persuasive means that he had managed to get her to go along with his plan. It had taken him the entire week before their departure to convince her that it was a good idea to break into an auror's flat. No matter that said auror was only in training...and was family in addition to that. Alex _still_ thought that they were being incredibly stupid to be trying to talk to her. Sirius, however, absolutely insisted that they had to see her. Alex could see the logic and usefulness in having an auror on their side, but she still thought that the risk was too great to try it. What if this girl turned against them and started helping the Ministry capture them?

Any chance she had to make him change his mind was abruptly coming to an end as he led her up a set of stairs. They stopped in front of the door for only a few seconds before Sirius judged that no muggles were looking at them and forced the door opened. Alex still clung to him as they walked into the dim, narrow hallway. The hall continued on with numbered doors lining both sides, and there was a staircase off to their right. It was the staircase that Sirius led them towards, and Alex still kept her hold around him as they started to climb.

They were on the fifth floor before she finally asked, "How the hell do you even know where her flat _is_?"

"I did my homework," he replied easily, "What, did you think that I was just starting a scavenger hunt from the top floor down?"

"What floor is it on, then?" she asked crossly.

He wasn't even out of breath, which earned him a glare from Alex as he spoke, "One more floor, Love. Would you like me to carry you?"

"I would like you to _teleport_ me," she huffed.

He leaned down to press a kiss into her hair (since she wouldn't turn her face up to meet his lips with her own) and rubbed her back affectionately as he spoke, "She'll have wards up to detect magic, I'm sure. We'll have to do this with as little magic as possible if we don't want to get caught early on."

Alex let out an exaggerated sigh, but otherwise kept silent as they continued up the stairs. Eventually they reached the landing, and Sirius finally came to a stop at the first door they reached. Alex was curious to see how exactly he was going to get into the apartment without using magic. She was hoping for a wonderful display of strength or something else that put her in a position to admire him, but she was disappointed in the end. He knelt down eye level with the doorknob as he pulled a knife out of his pocket. He inserted the blade into the crack between the lock and the doorframe, and it only took a few seconds of maneuvering for the sound of the lock clicking to be heard. He turned the knob as he extracted the knife from the door.

"I didn't know that you were an expert at muggle breaking and entering," she stated questioningly.

"I'm not. It's charmed to open pretty much any door if you know how to use it properly," he gave her a sideways glance as he stood and slipped said object into his pocket once more.

Alex, who had become nervous since losing physical contact with Sirius when he'd knelt down, placed her hand against his back as she followed him into the apartment. They entered without a sound, both walking into the sparsely decorated living room without being able to hold in their derisive looks. The room was small and cramped, leaving only enough room for the barest necessities of furniture. A narrow couch was against one wall, and it looked extremely uncomfortable, although neither of them was inclined to find out firsthand. There was a single armchair - _quite_ mismatched with the couch - practically stuffed into one corner. The room held no coffee table, end tables, desks, or any other form of table at all to speak of...not that there would have been any room for one anyway. A kitchenette was at the far end of the space, separated from the living area by counters. Said counters were littered with labeled boxes, making it clearly apparent that the inhabitants were still in the process of moving in.

"_These_ are the accommodations of a young auror from an extremely affluent pureblooded family?" Alex questioned in surprise.

Sirius shook his head, "No, Love. These are the accommodations of a young auror in training from a lower middle class mixed-blood family...Aurors aren't exactly the highest paid members of society in the first place. If you're just determined to make money in the law enforcement field you have to shoulder the many extra risks and continue your training to become a hit wizard. Aurors in _training_ are even worse because they make next to nothing...And while Nymphadora's mother is a pureblood, she married a muggle-born, which makes Nymphadora a half-blood. Her mother was disowned for marrying so low to begin with, so her daughter was certainly never considered part of the Black family."

Alex's reply of understanding was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. Both she and Sirius spun around to face the intruder.

"Tonks! Did you get dinner since you're home so ear..." the young wizard paused mid-sentence as he caught sight of who was standing in the living room. He had just turned around from closing the door behind him, and he stood with his mouth gaping as he stared at them. His eyes were wide and focused on her since she was the closest to the doorway, but his gaze quickly snapped behind her and onto Sirius. There was only a split second before he unceremoniously dropped the shopping bag in his arms and his hand shot towards his pocket. He wasn't quick enough.

A spell whizzed by Alex's head and hit the young wizard. He folded to the ground, landing in an undignified heap with both his limbs and his flaming orange hair fanned out in all possible directions. Alex stepped out of the way as Sirius moved forward to examine the boy, whom he had levitated and moved towards them. He snorted after a second or two, and Alex peered at the unconscious body herself to see what was so remarkable about it as to lead Sirius to make such an undignified sound.

The wizard was indeed very young if appearances were to be believed. His skin was naturally paler than the average person, but tinged red as if he went out in the sun very often but just couldn't tan and burned instead. He was also covered in a very generous amount of freckles, which continued up right into his scarlet hairline. Alex could see nothing so special about the boy that it should have made Sirius react in such a way. Unless, of course, he simply found the young wizard's appearance as distasteful as Alex personally did. In her opinion, the pale skin was neither dark enough to be conventionally attractive nor pale enough to be exotically attractive like Sirius's or Draco's. The freckles, sunburn, and awful hair color did nothing to flatter the skin tone at all, which just added to the lack of appeal. In spite of all that, she seriously doubted that Sirius had been noting the boy's attractiveness or lack thereof.

The question died in her throat as a surprised squeal reached her ears, "Merlin's beard! What the hell is going on here?"

Alex tensed and in an immediate reaction spun to take out the new threat. She had already managed to hit the intruder with a rather nasty hex before Sirius stopped her from recasting with a rather panicked shout. There was only a second of confusion on her part before Sirius ran forward to assist the witch and she realized her mistake. This must be the witch they'd come to see. Sirius was hovering over the girl in obvious concern, casting healing spells like crazy. It took him several seconds to get the effects of the hex under control.

Once he'd finally done it, he helped the witch into a sitting position and gave her an apologetic look, "Sorry, kid. I didn't realize that she'd go off and do something stupid like that." Alex's own eyes widened in surprise at that statement. Not only was he completely ignoring her and talking about her as if she wasn't even in the room, but he was talking as if she was a rowdy child he had to control!

"I'm fine...What did you do to Charlie?" the girl was considerably more calm than she had a right to be when facing down an infamous mass murderer.

"Just stunned him," Sirius raised an eyebrow, "So, Charlie is it? That's the second one, right?...Really, kid, shacking up with a _Weasel_? Whatever would the family say?"

The witch glared at him, "_My_ family thinks he's wonderful. I don't know what _your_ family would say. Anyway we're just friends sharing the rent, nothing more."

"Good choice, that," Sirius nodded in approval, "Refusing to align yourself with the Blacks, that is. I've no opinion about whether or not you're shagging a Weasley...except for the fact that he probably wouldn't sire offspring worthy of the bloodline...As far as _appearance_ goes. We have a reputation for ethereal beauty to uphold, you know."

"It's the Blacks who refuse to be aligned with me," the girl ignored the comments about the boy as Sirius helped her to her feet, "I personally wouldn't mind having a part of the money."

He rolled his eyes, "There's very little money for you to have a share of since the family doesn't actually have much of it. _I'm_ the one with the money."

The girl snorted, "Yes, well, _very little_ to you is _a whole hell of a lot_ to me...Really, though, what are you doing here?"

"I want to know what the aurors are doing about us," Sirius immediately adopted a serious tone. Alex was just glad that he appeared to actually remember that she was in the room instead of just worrying about himself and not her as well.

"Well, they do have a few aurors specifically assigned to you, but no one else really worries over it all that much. Everyone is worried about protecting Harry Potter right now. Extra security at Hogwarts and Hogsmeade is the primary focus at the moment," the answer immensely relieved both Sirius and Alex, and the young auror continued on a more personal note, "Honestly, Sirius, is that the only reason you came to see me? The first time I've had more than a few letters from you in years and you just want to use me for my position?"

Sirius moved away from the auror and closer to Alex. When he reached for her hand, however, she pulled it away from him. She wasn't about to forget the way he had talked about her earlier. It was degrading and disrespectful, and she wasn't about to get over it just because he wanted to hold her hand.

He looked over at her worriedly for a moment before he opened his mouth to answer his cousin, "I needed to know how much of a chance they have of finding us because we're planning on moving closer to home."

"Do you really think that's safe?" the girl asked in surprise.

Sirius was still casting inquisitive glances in Alex's direction as he answered distractedly, "It hardly matters."

"Oh?" the witch asked, "Do tell why not."

With one last sigh, Sirius turned his attention back onto his cousin. Alex, for her part, stood stiffly as he began his explanation. It was going to be a long morning.

-----------------

For the life of him, Sirius couldn't figure out what was wrong with Alex. At first he'd thought that she was just jumpy because she wasn't used to being in such close proximity to other people, but that theory was quickly proven wrong when she still acted cold towards him even after they'd left the apartment building. Her mind was still closed off to him, and she was walking beside him so frigidly that it was as if she expected him to attack her.

He turned his attention back to their surroundings. Sirius had a pretty good mental map of muggle London from the countless nights he'd gone out to hang out with his group of muggle "friends"...In reality, no one he had hung around with had had any idea about who he really was or what he was really like. However, he had tried everything at least once and had been up for doing almost anything again, and that was an important and very _likeable_ trait to people whose entire lives quite literally revolved around sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Amongst that one very small group of people he'd become almost as well known as he had been in the world of wizarding youth, although he had admittedly never quite reached _Yoda_-like status with the muggles like he had with the wizards. Awing others with his magical prowess and position in society hadn't been an option in dealing with the muggles, but in all honesty he'd preferred it that way. He just had to hope now that he was still remembered by the muggles he'd befriended.

It was a fairly long walk, and normally Alex would have been questioning him incessantly about what they were doing and where they were going. The fact that she was quiet was proof enough that _he_ was the problem. He opted not to start a scene in the middle of the street, especially since it wasn't a particularly reputable street. Speaking of which, there also happened to be a few less than wonderful men staring quite openly at her. Sirius completely ignored the further stiffening of her body as he stepped closer to her. She was way less than happy when he wrapped an arm around her waist possessively, but Sirius could have cared less. It was better to further her anger at himself than to risk her getting mad at any of the leering men. At least he was _fairly _certain that she wouldn't kill _him_.

His fears turned out not to matter as they finally reached their destination. Sirius was just glad that the pub was still there. He steered Alex, who was still less than willing, into the building. If the _outside_ was dirty, then the _inside_ was something else...dark, dusty, full of people who were obviously out of it, and with the unmistakable scent of what had made them that way. It was just like he remembered.

He stepped up to the bar and took a seat, waiting until Alex reluctantly did the same before he spoke, "What's wrong, Love?"

"Oh, do I matter now?" she asked in obvious annoyance.

"What?" he stared at her in confusion, "Precious little else matters _except_ you!"

Cold eyes and a raised eyebrow met his declaration, "Oh, dear. How awful that I didn't realize...Your wonderful acting skills earlier today must have had me terribly confused."

"What did I do earlier today?" he asked in genuine confusion.

She glared at him. "Are you sure I should be here?" at first he was further confused by her seemingly random question, but then she continued, "I might do something _stupid_ you know...Of course, if you _know_ I'm going to do something stupid you wouldn't care so much, would you? Maybe I should give you a list of everything I've sat down and planned out?"

He thought back on everything that had happened, and realization swept over him as he recalled his hasty words to his cousin. His eyes snapped up to Alex's face. Of course she was hurt...she'd been the sole center of his attention for the past ten years, and on their first day back in London he'd managed to not only ignore her in favor of someone else, but to speak ill of her, too!

He reached for her hand, "Love, I didn't mean to sound like that...I didn't mean to hurt you...I'm just an insensitive prick, obviously, but I hope that you can forgive me for it. I love you, Alex..."

His declaration was cut off by the man behind the bar, who had suddenly walked over to them. "Wha cin I git fer ya?" his unplaceable accent broke into their conversation.

Deciding that he'd rather not declare his undying love in front of the dirty bartender, he cast a last meaningful glance at Alex before saying, "I hear that you've got _special _stuff in the back."

The man started in surprise, "Where ya hear'd tha from?"

"Denney," he replied with a smirk.

The name had the desired effect on the grimey man, "Ya don say? You one a tha ol group? She ain't been round here'n ages."

Sirius wasn't surprised by the revelation. He'd been with her when she'd made the decision to "straighten up", as she'd called it. They'd been young then – him definitely younger than her – but he still remembered the occasion. Actually, he had the distinct impression that he'd _caused_ her decision.

_The music was blaring in his ears, almost fully drowning out the laughing and chattering in the other room...**almost**. The noise didn't bother him at all, though, nor did it seem to bother his companion. In fact, the music just helped to add energy to their movements. Their bodies moved in rhythm to the music...wild, fast, and hard. Of course, even after they had ceased the movement, the music continued. The beat was an almost **tangible** feeling in his chest. _

_Two sweat-slicked bodies were left panting heavily on the tiny bed. There was no room to move away from one another, and so Sirius propped up on his elbows to take his weight off of the woman beneath him. He stared down at her through his bangs, and saw that she was staring back at him with feverishly bright eyes._ _It struck him as unusual because normally she kept her eyes closed and pulled him back down more fully onto her so that she could hold him. He didn't think it was that she cared for him as more than a friend, just that she liked to cuddle after sex, which was good since he wasn't the type to be tied down._

"_Denney," he rasped, his voice hoarse from groaning and screaming, "What is it?"_

_She blinked and seemed to snap out of some sort of daze, then she smiled lazily up at him, "Actually worried about someone other than yourself, Sirius?"_

"_I do **occasionally** display human emotions," he moved off to the side as well as he could in the confined space by leaning all of his weight onto one elbow._

"_You're just worried that it wasn't good for me," she sneered playfully, "Afraid that you're losing your touch?"_

_Sirius raised an eyebrow and moved his hand down her body. She moaned in surprise and automatically moved her hips to meet his hand. He pulled back with a wicked smirk, and only after she whimpered at the loss did he speak, "No, I don't think I'm losing my touch. Now stop avoiding the question."_

"_**Fine**," she conceded_ _with a sigh, "...but only if you tell me what's been bothering **you** first."_

_Knowing that the conversation would go much faster if he gave in, he answered her, "I'm not coming back. The end of the summer is it for me."_

"_I knew that you'd leave," she seemed almost sad as she smiled a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, "You're too good for this...too well-bred._"

"_How would you know anything about my breeding?" he asked._

_She let out a laugh, "Sirius, dear, it's in the way you carry yourself, in the way you talk, in the way you **act**. You may not be a particularly **nice** person, but you can't deny the fact that you're a gentleman, born and raised."_

"_You've caught me!" he let out a bark-like laugh, "That's not why I'm leaving, though. It has nothing to do with my family, **trust me**. I left home, Denney, and then after this year I'll be in training. I have to get a job, and the job I want happens to be in law enforcement. That's hardly a suitable job when I'm coming to these little get togethers."_

"_**You**, a **cop**?" she asked in surprise, "You're leaving to be a cop!"_

_Sirius smiled ruefully_, "_Something like that. Now tell me...what's wrong with you?"_

"_I'm leaving, too," her smile wavered for a split second before returning, "I think it's time for me to straighten up and be a grown up. I'm supposed to get married."_

_Sirius was momentarily shocked. It had been Denney – with her shiny black hair, gorgeous dark skin, and luscious body – that had lured him into this world of muggle drugs, casual sex, loud parties, and screaming orgies. Not that he was complaining. He quite enjoyed the sex, after all. He quickly recovered however, as he realized that she **had **seemed a bit out of sorts with the lifestyle lately, and he smiled at her softly to hide his surprise, "You **are** getting a little old, don't you think? You'll be an old maid soon enough."_

"_Sirius Black!" she slapped his chest playfully, "I've only **just** turned twenty-three! Maybe it's just that you're still a baby."_

_He looked at her seriously then, and knew that his stare was too intense but didn't care. After a few moments, he spoke, "You certainly never complain when you're using me. It was you who came onto me first, if you'll remember."_

_Her happy look faded, and she returned his serious demeanor with one of her own, "Well I shouldn't have done it, should I? You were eighteen and I was twenty-one...old enough to know better than to drag you into this lifestyle when I already wanted out of it myself...You go become a cop, Sirius. Get out of this before it gets too hard."_

_She pushed him up far enough to wriggle out from underneath him, and moved away from the bed to get dressed. After a moment, Sirius followed her lead. They got dressed in silence, him finishing first since he lacked the accessories of fishnet and jewelry. He made to leave the room, only turning back at the last second before he opened the door._

"_You didn't drag me, Denney. I was into this long before you came along. You just helped me find my way around this particular city...and I went willingly. I won't forget you," he smiled tightly, "We're friends, you know."_

_She stared at him sadly and he thought he saw the telltale flash in her eyes that meant she was hiding something, but he left it alone when she ultimately replied, "Yeah...I know."_

_With one last look, he turned and walked out the door, out of the building, and to the nearest apparation point. The arrival at the Potter's new cottage only served to solidify the decision in his mind. He wasn't going back...not to **any** of the places he'd frequented within the past year. He was going to be a good boy and eventually become a good auror. That's just the way it was going to be._

Ironically enough, he was now right back in his old hangout. However, it wasn't going to be anything like the past this time around. He snapped out of it when the barman shifted noisily.

"Yeah, I'm part of the old group," he finally decided to reply, "It's been a while since I've been here...Is Rip still around?"

"O' curse Rip's still round," the bartender sent him a strange look, "Ever one knows tha Rip ain't never gonna leave."

Sirius knew that it was true. The question had been a stupid one, but he couldn't just go off demanding to see someone who wasn't there, so he'd asked. "You go tell him that Sirius is here to see him," he said with a smirk playing on his lips. The man studied him for a moment as if to argue before he ultimately decided to just take the order.

As he turned and walked away, it was Alex who broke the silence, "Sirius...you just go off giving your name around now? Without even _disguising_ yourself first?"

"Oh, trust me, Love," he finally smiled as it seemed that she had indeed decided to forgive him, "Anyone you meet here is as likely to commit suicide as they are to go to the police, and they might as well just die if it comes down to that. They're muggles anyway, so they wouldn't even go to the Ministry if they _did_ go to the authorities."

"I _know_ that they're muggles! There isn't an ounce of power except for yours and mine anywhere near here," she looked at him crossly, "I just don't think it's wise to go off and give your name to _anyone_."

Sirius reached for her hand, "Alex, these people wouldn't rat out someone if they sat there and watched the person murder their entire family. They couldn't afford to go to the police in the first place because they'd end up in jail themselves." She shot him a half-frightened look, and he ran his thumb over her knuckles soothingly, "They aren't murderers, Love...Well, maybe a few of them are, but mostly they're just thieves and drug traffickers. None of them want to go to jail, Love...they'd go crazy in there."

Sirius's attempt to explain these people to Alex as simply as possible worked since she didn't say anything else to him. She simply sat at his side silently, allowing him to hold her hand in his. It was only when the bartender came back that she tensed up again, and Sirius knew that it was from the memories the man caused her to have. He was tall, bulky, and dirty. All in all, his appearance resembled that of all of the men who had captured her at one time or another.

"Rip says you're ta go back thar ta meet'im," the man jerked his thumb backwards to indicate the door he'd just reappeared through, "Rip says tha you'll know where ta go if you's really who you says you are."

Indeed, Sirius _did_ know where to go. He'd been back there on many occasions. With a curt nod in the barman's direction, he stood and walked towards the door, pulling Alex along by the hand. She followed along willingly enough, curiosity evident in her demeanor, but she closed the space between them quickly. Sirius understood her fear at being so close to so many people in such a dreadfully deary place, and he let go of her hand long enough to wrap an arm around her once more. She leaned into him and he pulled her closer into his side in return as they walked through the door and into a narrow hallway.

Instead of continuing to walk like Alex clearly expected him to, he stopped and opened the very first door. It opened to reveal a steep staircase, and Sirius led them up it without hesitance. Alex wound her own arm around his waist to support herself as they climbed, and by the time they reached the landing at the top of the stairs they were hanging on to one another tightly. When they reached the correct door, however, he loosened his grip on her as he prepared to open it.

The sight that greeted him was a familiar one, and he had a sense of deja vu upon seeing it. There was a man sprawled out lounging on one of the many colorful cushions that were lining the walls and spread around haphazardly all over the room. He was in lounge pants and was shirtless, a scantily clad girl was resting against his chest, and his curly, dark brown hair was as messy as it could possibly be. After getting a glimpse of Sirius his face lit up in a brilliant smile, which emphasized the tiny lines that were starting to form around his eyes and mouth on his otherwise flawless skin.

"Sirius Black!" he exclaimed, "Well, I'll be damned! I didn't think it was really you when Johnny came in and told me who was asking for me."

"Rip," Sirius smiled back, "It's been a long time."

Rip stood up suddenly, dislodging the girl and almost tripping over a cushion in the process. He meandered across the room, wandering through the maze of cushions slowly as he made his way towards them. When he finally reached them, it was only to pull Sirius into a hug. Sirius was surprised for a moment, since it had been over a decade since they'd seen each other and he hadn't expected such affection after that, but he quickly remembered that Rip was an _extremely_ "affectionate" person. Just about the time his thoughts fell into place, Rip pressed closer to him and ran a hand down his back and towards his ass.

Sirius pushed him away with a laugh, "Sorry, Rip, I still don't swing that way."

"Oh, well," the other man sighed dramatically, "You can't blame a man for trying, can you, handsome?"

As soon as Rip was more than a few inches away, Alex was suddenly right beside Sirius once more. She pressed herself against him and placed a hand on his chest possessively. Sirius let out a chuckle and put his arm around her as he spoke, "Don't worry, Love. He's been trying to jump my bones ever since he met me, and he hasn't managed it yet."

"Well, who wouldn't want to shag him?" the man in question grinned as he directed the question towards Alex, but then he turned back to address Sirius, "You're pretty lucky yourself, I think. You always _did_ get the best girls."

As the lustful look turned from him to Alex, Sirius had to speak up, "Rip, I don't share. Stop looking at her like that."

"You always shared before. We had some good times together with some of your girls," Sirius was pinned with a confused stare.

Sirius tugged Alex closer to him, "Not this one. You'll just have to stick with your own girl tonight." Rip looked back towards said girl, who was still lounging against the cushions where he'd left her. He shrugged and turned to walk back to her, plopping down onto the cushions with a smile.

Sirius followed along behind him, pulling Alex with him, and fell gracefully onto another of the cushions. He looked towards his old acquaintance, "This isn't exactly a social call, Rip. I came to cash in on a few of those favors you owe me."

"Oh, I see," the smile still never left the man's face, "What do you need, then, handsome?"

"Just information," was all that Sirius could reply through his half amusement, half annoyance at the nickname, "I know you always have your ear to the ground."

Rip nodded, "I knew all about it when you got yourself into a spot of trouble a while back. I haven't heard anything about you lately, though."

"Well, then I suppose it's a good thing that I wasn't looking for information on myself," Sirius leaned back to get more comfortable, "I think the favors you owe me go a little further than that anyway. I want you to tell me about anything _extra_ special you hear about...suspicious deaths, new criminals and the like."

Rip stared at him for a moment before answering hesitantly, "Well, there hasn't been anything like that for a while...except around one man...Nott's his name. He showed up about a month ago, and since then there's been all kinds of shit happening."

Sirius felt Alex lose the tension in her body as she finally realized why they were there. He tightened his grip on her slightly as he turned back to press Rip for more details, "You don't say...How about telling me exactly what kinds of shit you mean?"

--------------------

It was nearly dinnertime by the time they left the pub. Sirius could tell that Alex was nearly bursting with curiosity. He smiled as they made their way onto the nearly deserted street, "You want to ask something, Love?"

She turned to look at him, "Who _is_ he?"

"A man I used to hang around with," he sighed, "It was a long time ago, Alex, back when I was a teenager."

"He has a strange name, don't you think?" she looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

He laughed, "It's a nickname, Love. His real name is Jake...and, no, I _don't_ know how he got the nickname. I've just always heard him called that."

"And Denney," she asked after a second, "Who was she?"

Sirius glanced over, "She was my friend. She introduced me to Rip, in fact. I haven't seen her in almost as long as I hadn't seen him."

Alex was silent for a few moments, but then she asked almost hesitantly, "Was she your lover?"

"She was mostly my friend," Sirius took Alex's hand to reassure her, "I shagged her a lot, that's true, but I never loved her...I shagged a lot of girls back then. It was kind of the thing to do. You saw those cushions...that's what they're there for...to fuck."

"Oh," she managed to get out, "oh."

Sirius stopped and turned to face her, "Alex, you _know_ that I love _you_. I love you so much it hurts sometimes, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

She looked up into his face for a few seconds before she suddenly lunged forward to kiss him. He leaned towards her in return and their mouths met halfway. The kiss was intense, though it was brief since they were in the middle of a dark street with a bad reputation and Sirius was loathe to let his guard down.

When they pulled away from each other, Alex grinned up at him, "Where to now, _handsome_?"

He scowled at her teasing, but answered her anyway, "Home, Love. We're going home."


	35. An Understanding

A/N: In this chapter they're finally starting to _really_ get settled into the wizarding world again. They're moving into their new house here, and that's when Sirius's pureblood upbringing will really start to come to the forefront. Everything is so much more luxurious and there's just a grandeur in their new surroundings that he's never bothered to deal with before...mostly because he never really cared for it, but to protect them he has to go to the safest place he knows and he can't escape his upbringing when he's living in a functioning piece of family history. Anyway, I promise he won't be so...arrogant and..._pretentious_...for long (not in Alex's presence anyway). He just has to establish to everyone (servants, other purebloods, goblins, etc.) that he is, indeed, Master Black in fact as well as in title...that he's just as much of a leader and has just as much control as all of the ancestors whose shoes he's having to fill.

Chapter Thirty-Five

The clearing was eerily quiet, and Sirius was suspiciously silent, as well. Alex tagged along behind him, trying to be as quiet as possible along with him. Unfortunately, she wasn't anywhere near as stealthy as Sirius, and everything was so _still_ that every little sound she made was perceptible. To make matters worse, she knew that he could pick up on things that normal people would never notice. All in all, the occasional sound of her footsteps compared to the complete silence of everything else made her distinctly uncomfortable.

Finally, in an attempt to distract herself, she started up a conversation, "Is there a reason why we're being so quiet?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, "If there is then don't you think you're defeating the purpose?"

"Well," she looked at him with her own brow raised, "_is_ there?"

"No, Love, there's not," he laughed, "I wouldn't bring you along if I needed to be quiet."

Alex shot him a glare that clearly expressed what she thought of him just then, but otherwise didn't grace his comment with a response. Instead, she opted to study her surroundings in more detail now that she knew that they weren't in any immediate danger. They were on a rather rough and overgrown dirt road. It appeared that no one had used the path in _years, _which Alex didn't find surprising at all due to its location. Actually, she was more surprised that the road was even there in the first place. They were, after all, in the middle of a damned _forest_. The trees surrounding them were so tall that sunlight could barely get past their shadows and onto the road, and they were so dense that she could barely see a meter into them. What a road was doing in the middle of such a wilderness was beyond her, and what they were doing walking on it was even more incomprehensible. She didn't ask, however, because she wasn't about to give Sirius an extra excuse to make fun of her, and he could find something funny in any question.

It was almost a quarter of an hour later when the road finally showed signs of ending. Alex got her hope built up when she first made out some sort of structure in the distance, but the closer they got to it the more confused she became. It was a wall. An extremely old wall if appearances were to be believed...It was covered in vines and moss, but the stone that was visible through the plant life was very obviously at least a few centuries old if it was a day. The most striking thing about it wasn't the age, though...it was the size. The end wasn't anywhere in sight, and the top wasn't either as far as Alex was concerned. It had to stand at least fifty feet high!

Sirius had been watching her reaction with amusement as they neared the wall, and he finally spoke up as they came right up to it, "You act like you've never seen a fence before."

"A_ fence_?" she asked incredulously, "You call this a _fence_? It's at _least_ a five story wall!"

"Yes, but it's _used_ as a fence," he defended himself.

Alex turned to look at him warily, "What could possibly cause the need for a fence so enormous?"

"Attacks by other wizards mostly," he supplied an answer, "The purebloods were fighting tons of blood feuds back when this estate was commissioned. Dozens of families were killed off by other pureblooded families, which didn't help with the pureblood to mudblood ratio at all. That just caused more stress and more attacks on families who had too much influence to be trusted because people thought killing the leaders would give them a chance to take over and fix things. The Blacks were publically targeted and attacked heavily."

Alex glanced at the wall, "So they put up a giant fence to keep _wizards_ out of something?"

"Well, each separate stone has various wards and curses on it, and then the wall as a whole has even more," he raised his right hand, which bore his signet ring, and muttered something under his breath. Magic suddenly flared up in potent levels around the wall. Alex could actually _see_ the magic, which wasn't a very common occurrence for wards and curses...especially old ones. Sirius looked to be in deep concentration for a moment, then he relaxed and let the wards return to normal.

Alex looked on in confusion, and he finally answered her inquiring gaze, "I just checked to make sure all of the protections were in place...It's been a few years."

"I understand the need for wards, but why a _wall_ to contain them? Why not just put them up normally like everyone else does?" she asked.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "You've tossed the gnome out of the garden, Love. _No one_ had ever built something like this to house their wards. It was a physical sign and an obvious warning of the strength you were trying to go against by taking on the Blacks."

Alex nodded and took his elbow as they started walking once more. Contrary to what she'd thought at first, the road didn't end at this structure at all. It only turned and began running along beside the wall. She was glad that, at the very least, they weren't walking uphill anymore. Along with being even more tiring than usual, she hadn't been able to see anything at all over the top of the wall when they were walking up to it. Sirius didn't appear to be affected at all...in fact, he was moving along as if he might start skipping at any moment. It was annoying as hell in Alex's opinion.

She had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed the curve of the road until Sirius stopped suddenly, jerking her to a halt along with him. She looked up to yell at him, but the words got caught in her throat as she took in the sight before her. They were standing in front of a gate. An extremely impressive one at that. It was just as tall as the wall itself and made of some sort of metal twisted and arranged into a very elaborate network of designs. Peering through them also gave her a very impressive view...It was obvious that the grounds had been tamed into a beautiful landscape, but that wasn't the most breathtaking thing. Off in the distance stood a mansion the likes of which Alex had never seen before. It looked enormous even from such a long way away, and it was obvious that it was medieval in design. A castle to be exact...it looked like a palace made for a king.

After a few moments of shock-induced silence, she finally managed to speak, "Oh my...wow..."

"I like it, too," Sirius said as he laughed at her reaction, "It's the biggest mansion in the family, and the best, too, in my opinion. It's even more impressive than Malfoy Mansion. My great-great-great-great-great grandfather started building it when the Blacks started being hunted down by other purebloods. Almost every member of the family came to live here because of the protection it offered, which is why it had to be so big...well, that and the fact that it had to be just as impressive as the wall, if not more so, to show everyone just how powerful the family was. It wasn't finished being built until well after the power struggles were over, which was a couple of centuries later...Not until my great-great grandfather, Phineas Nigellus, put the finishing touches on it just before the turn of the century, when he was in his early fifties. Only he was a teacher at Hogwarts so the family only came here on holidays, and then in his _late_ fifties he became headmaster, so he almost never left the school at all. His children weren't too attached to the house because they'd spent almost their entire lives either at Hogwarts or staying with other relatives because their mother was a_ bit_ of a loony and couldn't be trusted to take care of them properly when good old Phineas wasn't around. Anyway, none of his children ever really came back here, and they certainly never made it into a _home_. The only time we've ever really used it was for parties when we wanted to impress people."

Alex stared at the structure in awe, "We're staying here?"

"Yeah," Sirius let go of her and looked contemplatively at the gates as he spoke, "It's the most well-protected place I know of. It's even better protected than Hogwarts."

"I thought no place was better protected than Hogwarts," she said in surprise.

He shook his head, "No, that's just what people _like_ to believe to fool themselves into not being guilty over sending their children away in the middle of wars. They'd be better off locking their kids up in their Gringotts vaults if they want them safe...Hogwarts has one of the best ward systems in the world, that's true enough, but you can only use so many kinds of wards on a school without hurting someone. They can't use magic-specific wards since so many kinds of magic are studied there. They can't even ward against many kinds of "dark" magic because you have to have practical lessons in Defense Against the Dark Arts, plus banning "dark" things would mean you couldn't bring in many creatures, plants, or potions ingredients. Apparently they don't even ward against the dark mark itself if we're going to go by the fact that the attacking death eaters weren't deflected _and_ the fact that Snivellus was there last time I checked...too bad _he_ wasn't ripped apart by wards when I drug him in. Honestly, you can't even use blood wards since all variations of witches and wizards are accepted...even Filch is allowed in, and he's a squib."

Alex watched him curiously as he seemed to be casting spells of some kind at the gate, "What kinds of wards are there here?"

"Well, magic-specific wards are certainly not up around here. My family was all about the dark arts, after all...with the exception of the Unforgivable Curses anything goes. However, there _are_ blood wards up. You can't so much as open the front door unless you are a Black _or_ are married to the Master since you are supposed to live here under that circumstance and you need to be able to get into and out of your own house...and you can't even open the gate in the first place unless you happen to hold the title of Master Black..**.Ha! I remember how!**" His sudden outburst was punctuated by the gates suddenly lurching forward, giving off a horrible grating squeak as they did since it had been so long since they'd moved at all.

They re-linked arms and walked forward once more (not without an eye roll and an exasperated sigh from Alex). Almost immediately after they stepped onto the grounds of the estate, several house elves suddenly appeared around them. Alex had never really been serviced by house elves to any great degree, and she really didn't know what to expect. Whatever it was, however, she was completely surprised by what actually happened. They all immediately fell to their knees at Sirius's feet. Their ugly little heads were pressed into the ground and their squeaky voices were all greeting him enthusiastically.

As soon as Sirius told them all to get up, the one closest to him dashed forward to latch onto his robes, "Oh, we is so glad that Master is back, Master! Why did Master not tell us he is coming? Master could have rode in the coach, he could have!"

"There's a _coach_?" Alex glared at him, "You made me _walk_ when there's a _coach_!"

"I couldn't very well send a letter informing the house of my impending arrival! What if it was intercepted?" he defended himself, "It's one thing for everyone to expect me to hide out here, but it's a completely different thing altogether to give the Ministry written _proof_ that I'm here. They might not be able to get in, but that doesn't mean I want them making camp outside the gate."

They were distracted from their exchange by the house elves, who had been conversing amongst themselves, suddenly trying to address him all at once. From what she could make out of the sobs and rambling, Alex was fairly certain that they were afraid that the house wasn't ready for their Master to inhabit. She watched mutely as the same one who had grabbed Sirius's robes earlier - apparently the leader - bowed low before him again, "Master mustn't be mad with us! We is not knowing that Master would be coming! Oh, Master, you must give us time to make the house ready for Master and the girl...We is not even knowing Master's schedule!...When would Master be liking to eat? Which study would Master be wanting?..."

Sirius tried in vain several times to reassure the desperate creatures, but his patience _definitely_ had its limit. He finally snapped, "**Silence!**_" _The house elves immediately stopped making any sort of noise at all, and he continued on, "The only thing I want at the moment is a bedroom. Other than that you can feel free to take your time preparing the house for us. We plan on staying indefinitely, so you have all the time in the world to get everything perfect...We don't like schedules. We'll let you know whenever we are ready to eat, and the food can be made then...I'll have to inspect the place myself, but when I'm done I'll be sure to tell you if I want anything particular to be made out of a room...As for right now, have the coach sent out, as I don't think that the lady would like to walk a mile to the house...You're dismissed." All of it was said in such a superior tone that Alex was sure her lover had been replaced with Draco.

"I don't get a choice in anything you just said?" she asked as the house elves were finishing up their bows and disappearing back to wherever it was they came from.

"I'm sorry," the condescending attitude from moments before vanished and was replaced by the affectionate tone she was used to him using around her, "You can change anything you don't like once we get settled in and you've had time to decide what you want."

They both watched as something appeared from the side of the house and started out on the road towards them. As they waited for the carriage to arrive, Alex turned back to comment, "Can I expect this superior attitude from now on?"

He looked at her with a smirk, "Love, I'm only acting this way because I _am_ superior in this particular situation...I never act that way to many other people because, let's face it, I'm not better than many other people what with being a killer and all...I wouldn't even act this way towards the servants if they were human since that would mean that they were obviously getting paid for performing services, and you can't look down on anyone for making a living...I only act that way towards the house elves because they let themselves be pushed around. I've offered to pay them, they won't accept money...I've tried to let them live their own lives, they just end up asking me for permission for every little thing they want to do...I've tried to free them, they beg me not to...They are an entire race, and they _let_ themselves be dominated by another species."

Alex actually had to concede that he had a point, "So, this is only going to be your attitude around the house elves?"

"No," he turned to watch the approaching coach, "If we're going to be a part of pureblood society then I'll be acting that way a lot. I may consider myself beneath a lot of people, but I am better than any of Voldemort's supporters or sympathizers. They expect me to be condescending and cold anyway because of who I am and what they think I am."

Alex had nothing further to question him about, and they watched in silence as the coach rolled closer and closer. It was just as magnificent as everything else she had seen since arriving at the estate. It was enormous, as it obviously had to be to go along with the theme of the rest of the place. It was black with ornate gold handles, driver's box, luggage rack, and steps. What was most amazing about it, however, was none of that. What _really_ drew Alex's attention were the horses pulling it. There were two of the biggest horses she'd ever seen! They were at least the size of elephants...with glossy dark gray coats and perfectly formed wings of a slightly darker shade of gray.

She couldn't help but gasp, and Sirius smiled, obviously pleased that he kept on impressing her, "They're Granians...extremely fast. In fact, they're the _fastest_ winged horses...even faster than thestrals. Of course, they tone it down a bit for the purpose of pulling the carriages on the ground, but in the air they're amazing. There's a herd living on the grounds here, and they offer up their services in return for the protection we've always given them from the other wizards who want to capture and tame them."

"They're magnificent!" she finally managed to get out.

Sirius smiled at her excitement, but didn't say anymore about the horses themselves. Instead, he opted to open the carriage door with great flourish (a sweeping bow included) and offer a hand up to her. "Your carriage awaits, My Lady."

Alex placed her delicate hand into his much larger one, glad for the extra support as she climbed into the coach. The only thing missing from the scene was an enormous hoop skirt, and that thought made her laugh as she finally managed to gain entrance into the impossibly large box. She settled herself onto one of the comfortable benches, which were really better described as full sofas, that were on either side of the coach. They were made of dragon hide, a very handsome mixture of black and green. There was green velvet completely lining the walls and ceiling, but a gold fixture decorated the space here and there.

"It's lovely," she informed Sirius, who was just then entering the carriage himself.

He snorted, which was very out of place in the midst of all the finery, but before Alex could reprimand him, he spoke, "It's very _Slytherin_ is what it is."

"What's wrong with that?" she'd never really been able to make him talk about his school days...She supposed any good memories he might have made had long since turned sour because of all the bad things that had happened since then. It couldn't be very easy for him to think about having fun with his friends when one had betrayed him, one hadn't believed in him, and one had died because of him.

He didn't look particularly happy to be talking about it now, but he answered her nonetheless, "There's something wrong with the people who are a part of it...most of them anyway. That's not to say there's actually something wrong with the house itself. I would have been in Slytherin had I not literally _demanded_ that the sorting hat put me somewhere else."

"How did you demand _that_?"she asked, sure that he had an interesting answer.

She was right, he _did_, "I simply informed the hat that I refused to follow the convention of my family just for tradition's sake, and that if it put me into Slytherin that I would leave the school immediately...The sorting hat hates to lose students, you know, almost as much as it hates the houses not being united."

Alex watched as he settled himself onto the seat opposite her. He sunk onto the seat with a sigh, slouching into a comfortable position. Alex gave him a cross look, "Exactly why are you over there when I have so much room over here?" She lifted an arm to gracefully gesture at the remaining ten feet of seat beside her.

"It's a long ride. I want to rest," with that, he plopped down into the cushions. He sprawled out dramatically, resting a forearm over his eyes with a sigh. Alex stared at him in disbelief. He would rather lie there than be near her? He must have sensed the scowl she was aiming at him, because he raised his arm just enough so that he could peak at her from under it. A smirk formed over his features, and he lifted his arm the rest of the way to hold it out to her, "Come here, Love."

She thought about refusing him. Why give him the luxury of her presence when he'd been so horrid to her just seconds before? In the end, however, she found her body moving towards him almost without consulting her mind at all. He wrapped his outstretched arm around her and drug her forwards until she landed sprawled on top of him. He cupped her cheek and brought her forward to capture her lips in a kiss as she got comfortable.

When he released her mouth, she pulled back to look down into his stormy eyes, "I thought that you wanted to rest."

"I do, Love," he wrapped his arms more fully around her, "but that doesn't mean that I didn't want you to rest with me."

Alex placed a sweet kiss to his jaw and worked her way down his neck until she could rest her head at the hollow between it and his shoulder. He stroked her back soothingly. To her credit, she _did_ try to relax, but relaxation simply wouldn't come to her. Finally, she sighed in defeat, "Sirius, love, I can't rest like this."

"Like what?" he mumbled almost incoherently into her hair.

She shifted again as she answered softly, "How could I ever possibly get comfortable lying on top of you?"

He let out a soft chuckle as he pushed her up and moved her to his side, "I have no problem lying on top of _you_."

Even in the midst of his protests, he rolled to his own side and rested against the back of the couch so that they'd have enough room, but soon enough he was pressing against her insistently. He wrapped his arms around her waist and molded his body to hers even as he pulled her closer to him than ever.

"You'll just have to spoon with me," he breathed against her neck.

Alex had no objections whatsoever to his new plan, so she snuggled back against him in return. Sirius continued to squeeze her tighter until finally they were as close as they could get considering the layers of fabric separating them. It was then that Alex realized that her position had nothing to do with her inability to rest. She was extremely comfortable, but she still couldn't relax.

Sirius noticed it, too, and after a few minutes he finally commented, "Is it impossible to rest like this, too?"

"I'm sorry," she sighed.

"No, it's fine," he spoke into her hair, "I just didn't realize that cuddling with me made you so uncomfortable."

Alex couldn't detect a hint of humor in his voice, and she tensed up even further at the knowledge that she'd hurt him. She shook her head to deny it, "It isn't _you_, Sirius. I'm just...nervous."

He was silent for a few moments, then his arms retightened around her, "I'll never let anything happen to you, Love."

"Are you going to lock me up in this house forever, then? Or maybe you're just going to hold my hand everywhere I go?" she pointed out.

Sirius didn't relent, "I don't mind holding your hand."

"You need to worry about yourself. It's _you_ they want," Alex informed him softly.

"We'll _both_ be safe," he said firmly, "By the time I get finished with them the purebloods won't dare to cross me, and they're the only people we'll be around."

Alex knew that he knew what he was doing, so she decided not to carry on with the subject any longer. Instead, she dislodged herself from his arms and sat up, silencing his protests when she simply turned around and laid back down. They were now chest to chest instead of chest to back, and Alex wound her arms around him. She hugged him tightly as she burrowed further into his chest.

He sighed into her hair, "Everything will work out fine, Love. Trust me."

"I do," she admitted after a sort pause, "I just don't think that you're taking this seriously."

"What?" he pulled away enough to stare at her, "How the hell did you get _that_ idea? I'm taking this as seriously as I can possibly take it! Do you think I _want_ to be a soulless shell until the end of time?"

Alex stared back at him earnestly, "I think that you think you're untouchable...You're not, you know. If I was able to get hurt as much as I did back then, then you're able to get hurt, too! You might be stronger than me, but you're still the same as me...The only way you'll live forever is if it's left up to nature. You'll never just keel over and _die_, but you can still be _killed_!"

A pregnant pause followed her outburst, but eventually Sirius found his voice again, "Give me today to get things settled, Alex. If you don't develop any confidence in me before tomorrow comes then I promise not to do anything further."

She really couldn't argue with such a proposition, so she nodded her agreement. She'd barely given her consent to his plan when he pulled away from her and sat up stiffly. Alex stared at him in surprise for a few moments before she thought to sit up as well. He was looking at his hands, but she could see his over bright eyes glittering even though he wasn't facing her. It hurt her to hurt him, but she had to point out that particular personality flaw to him for both of their safety's sake. He had no right to think of himself as invincible when he wasn't. She wouldn't have been able to live with herself if he got hurt because he didn't take a threat seriously enough.

Her musings were interrupted when Sirius suddenly stood. She jerked out of her thoughts in time to watch him open the door. "We're here," he announced gruffly, disappearing from sight as he stepped out of the coach. She hadn't even felt the coach stop moving.

Alex stared after him for a moment before she snapped out of it and stood herself. Unexpectedly enough, she found him waiting right outside the door to help her down. She had expected him to have left her to her own devices after she'd hurt his feelings so badly, but she had obviously underestimated his unfailing instinct to look after her safety and comfort. His hand was warm as she grasped onto it, but his attitude was anything but. He was absolutely frigid to her as they walked up the enormous staircase and towards the equally awe inspiring double doors.

Alex tried to ignore the fact that he was ignoring her. She looked at her surroundings in awe. The double doors were three stories high and wider than even the Hogwarts doors. She had the urge to use the giant golden knockers, which were in the shape of greyhounds (the same dogs that graced either side of his family crest). She never got the chance, however, because Sirius reached for the handle to open the door. She felt the magic that flowed through him through their still connected hands as he grasped the handle, and when it finally swung open it was a real rush.

He didn't seem affected, however, since his expression stayed exactly the same as he immediately led her into the building. She was met with black marble floors and priceless antique furniture illuminated by enormous ornate chandeliers. The doors slammed shut behind them, and Sirius snapped his fingers twice. A house elf appeared almost immediately afterwards.

Sirius dropped her hand as he spoke, "This is Alexandrea. You'll give her anything she wants and treat her just as you would treat your mistress."

He turned to face her stiffly, "I have business to take care of. I'll be back later." With that, he kissed her cheek almost methodically before he headed through a door off to the side of the of the entrance hall.

She stared after him in surprise for a few moments, before turning to the house elf, "What is through that door?"

She was quickly informed that a portkey station lay in the room, although certainly not as eloquently or in as complete of a sentence as that. Alex got the general gist, however: that only people granted with special permission could portkey into or out of the estate. Sirius's ring acted as a permanent link to the house so he could travel into or out of it at any time he chose, but he would have to make a portkey specifically for a person without a ring anytime they wanted to do either. So she was trapped in the house for the time being, but Alex was sure that Sirius hadn't meant it that way. He was probably sure that she would be more than willing to stay inside and explore her new surroundings, and he was completely correct on that count. Alex was extremely curious to explore a house this big, old, and luxurious. She was just sorry that he was so upset with her that he wouldn't consider taking her with him, or even so much as telling her what he was doing. It would be a long day without him and with unresolved tension between them.

--------------------

The crowd didn't bother him half as much as it should have. Pressing through the throng of last minute shoppers the weekend before September first barely registered in his mind. He only had eyes for his destination, and he used his considerable strength to shove people out of his way thoughtlessly in his rush to reach Gringotts.

Despite his single destination, Sirius's mind was working furiously. Alex didn't trust him. She thought that he couldn't keep them safe. His _love_ was convinced that he was incapable of providing for her, for Merlin's sake! This brought him to his current goal: getting to Gringotts. He had haughty purebloods to blackmail and certain gorgeous witches to awe.

He finally pushed past the last stream of shoppers and gained access to the bank's steps. He wasted no time with idle chitchat as he shoved past the angry and protesting people waiting in line and eventually found himself in front of the desk. He was glad to note that his glamour was working. It disguised his facial structure but left everything else (skin tone, hair color, eyes) the same. Luckily enough no one recognized him yet.

The line behind him continued to protest vehemently as he shoved his key to the goblin. Said goblin didn't even look at his key before shoving it back across the desk, "Back of the line!"

Sirius countered the goblin's contemptuous glare with a glacial one of his own, "Don't test me, goblin. I'm not going to the back of the line."

"There's no special treatment here. _Next_!" the creature voiced over the mob behind them.

The man behind Sirius held out a key and tried to shove past him to hand it to the goblin. Sirius held out an arm to stop the man's progress. He leveled cold eyes on the goblin, "I'll have your job over this."

Before it could respond beyond a confused look, the crowd behind them began to part and an authoritative voice could be heard, "Make way! Make way!"

"What's going on here?" the speaker was revealed as Ragnok himself stepped forward, "I won't tolerate any disturbances in my bank!"

Sirius kept his face blank and his eyes icy as he turned to face the old goblin, "Ragnok, how lovely of you to take the faults of your employees so seriously. I was afraid that I would have to go through the trouble of filing an official complaint."

Whispers broke out among the assembled onlookers, "Is that really Ragnok, do you think?" ..."I heard he never leaves his office!"..."That man knows Ragnok?"..."Who does he think he is? He'll have his key taken away for sure!"

Sirius's facial expression never betrayed his amusement, nor did his normally lively eyes. He held out his key for the imposing creature's inspection without uttering a single comment. Ragnok's eyes went from the ornate key to its owner's stormy gaze. "We didn't know to expect you, Master," the goblin addressed him formally, although wisely leaving off his surname.

"This is rather critical," Sirius raised an eyebrow, "Am I required to contact you every time I have an emergency?"

The goblin looked surprised for a few moments before he bowed his head briefly out of respect, then turned around and began to part the crowd. Sirius followed him with his head held high and with a superiority complex clear for all to see. Whispers circulated all around him, for which Sirius was glad. The entire purpose of his actions had been to start a scene and draw attention, after all.

As they stepped into the elevator, Sirius turned to face the mob. As the door started to shut, he let the glamours drop. He watched recognition begin to wash over the crowd just as the door slammed closed.

Ragnok turned to face him in clear anger, "We would have had your room prepared if you'd just owled us ahead of time."

"My comings and goings aren't requiredto be planned out and stamped with your seal of approval," Sirius's cold demeanor did not abate.

"This whole scene could have been avoided! It isn't the bank's fault that you showed up out of nowhere...and not even wearing your customary disguise!" the old goblin didn't appear to want to back down.

Sirius turned to face the goblin, "Nevertheless, you _will_ fire him. The very moment it becomes my responsibility to approve my disguises with you, I'll let you know."

"I will not fire a perfectly capable employee over this!" as Ragnok declared this, Sirius decided that the goblin had definitely been allowed to grow too big for his trousers.

"You'll do what I say, you ugly bastard. I might not have cared earlier, but playtime is _over_," his cold voice betrayed none of his anger, "You'll damn well do whatever I want you to do whether or not it's a reasonable request. You seem to need to be reminded of your place...I don't need you, but _you need me_...Besides the fact that I'm superior to you in every way, I would think the fact that I could move my accounts at any moment would cause you to show some respect. Understand?"

The goblin stared at him in a mixture of surprise and anger, but didn't answer. Sirius let the calmness leave his eyes, revealing the full intensity of his stare, "I asked if you understand!"

Their gazes met, and Ragnok's eyes betrayed the first bit of fear Sirius had seen there in a very long time. It wasn't respect in any way, shape, or form, but it was good enough to be getting on with. Sirius didn't back down, and eventually the goblin muttered, "I understand."

"What was that? You don't seem to have said it clearly enough," Sirius, of course, had heard the words perfectly. He just wanted to force his point home to make sure that the goblin got it.

The goblin grimaced, or at least his face pulled into what Sirius _assumed_ was a grimace, "I understand!"

"Good," Sirius still didn't let his imposing and frankly frightening demeanor drop, "I think we'll work well together in the future, you and I. Now, tell me, is this bank really as secure as they say it is?"

--------------------

A/N: And I still feel like not a lot is happening. I just don't have the time or energy at this very moment to continue on with the events, and I figured I'd already made you wait long enough so I went ahead and posted what I had in this chapter. Next chapter you get to see Sirius's plan, and then you get to see a bit more of Draco! (You have to love him!)...So I think my review page is completely messing up. I've gotten some reviews in my e-mail that never showed up on the actual site. Is it just me, or is it everyone? If anyone knows what's going on drop me a clue, would you? In an e-mail, IM, review, PM...I don't care, take your pick, I just want to know what the hell is happening around here.


	36. New Forms of Hell

A/N: This has taken so freaking long that I can guarantee I'm more frustrated than anyone else over the whole thing. I had next to no time to write! I actually resorted to writing things down by hand whenever I found extra time...I used paper and pen, imagine!...It was like going back to the dark ages! Honestly it was the last section that gave me trouble...I knew what I wanted to happen and I know what will happen in the future, but I couldn't decide how to proceed or when to stop. Finally, though, I have it out! I sincerely hope you like it for all the trouble it caused.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Ragnok looked particularly murderous when he re-entered the parlor, but Sirius paid him no mind. The goblin, for his part, thought it best not to comment when Sirius held out his hand in a silent demand. The command didn't need to be spoken out loud for the goblin to step forward and place the ledger into Sirius's hand without argument.

"Everything has been taken care of?" he finally graced the goblin with words.

Ragnok stared at him in barely concealed fury, "Of course, Master Black. Everything is perfectly as you '_asked'_."

Sirius shot the goblin an imposing look to warn him off of letting his emotions forward when addressing his betters. He understood perfectly that the goblin didn't like wizards, and that he didn't like Sirius in particular, but hatred was no excuse for disrespect. In all actuality, Sirius thought that the whole situation was highly amusing, but he would never laugh about it. The goblin couldn't be allowed to think that he had any kind of advantage over Sirius. The fear Ragnok had of him would ensure that he was safe in the bank.

He finally let ice take over his eyes once gain to mask their full intensity as he spoke, "I'll be extremely upset is anyone else finds their way upstairs while I'm here today."

"As I told you before, Master Black, the bank has been closed...just as you asked," the fury in the goblin's eyes wasn't even masked this time.

Sirius raised a perfect brow, "Come now, Ragnok, what's losing a few thousand dollars for the day compared to losing...How much is it now?" he glanced at the ledger in his hand, "_That_ much?"

The goblin's face pulled into a more polite grimace than it had previously worn as he seemed to recall this bit of information, "You're perfectly right, of course."

Sirius stared at the goblin for a few moments longer before he spoke again, "I'll be moving 3,472,214 galleons and all of the sickles and knuts from my secondary vault to my personal vault, which will leave an even 2,000,000 galleons in the secondary vaults just in case of emergencies." The goblin jotted down something on his notepad, and Sirius willed the magical ledger to show him his personal vault's contents, "Ragnok, I require the information on every pureblooded family that uses this bank in relation to the Black family...loans, oaths, wills...that sort of thing."

Without a word, the goblin rose and walked out the door, but only after a respectful bow, of course. Sirius turned back to the ledger to study his accounts in detail until Ragnok returned, which turned out to be only a few minutes later. Sirius took the newest ledger from the goblin with a sigh.

He settled down more comfortably into his seat as he spoke, "Alright, let's get started."

--------------------

Sirius was exhausted as he signed the latest form presented for his inspection. A quick look at the clock on the mantle revealed that it was well past lunchtime. They had been at it for over four hours! He looked wearily over the papers spread out on the coffee table in front of him. Well, at least they'd gotten a lot done...

Sirius had the stacks of papers separated into families...one stack for the Parkinsons, one for the Notts, one for the Goyles, and so on... They'd started out very simple...with wizard oaths. Oaths, whether made out of free will or forced upon a person, were unbreakable upon penalty of death. There was absolutely no room for any interpretation other than strictly what was said. There were no loopholes, therefore it was easy to determine how to use oaths to his advantage because he didn't have to think about all of the ways that his targets could get out of them or turn them against him.

The next thing that they had gone through had been loans. _Most_ of the Blacks kept their money extremely close to their chests. They all added to the collections, of course, but they hardly ever went out and bought frivolous objects just because they _could_ (what they did buy wasn't of the utmost quality and far more expensive than everyone else's useless items anyway). Other pureblooded families, on the other hand, were in a furious race to outdo everyone else. They spent their money on things that even the richest person could never possibly find an excuse to _need _just to prove to everyone else that they had enough money to buy it. As a result, many of the old and supposedly wealthy and respectable families had, in fact, squandered away much of their wealth. The Black family had loaned a lot of funds to many families over the years, and Sirius fully intended to use that against said families...Some of the loans had been made more recently, either by Sirius's father or grandfather, but many of them were from generations ago. Sirius doubted that the current heads of the houses had any idea of the loans unless they had specifically requested information on loans from years and years past. Ignorance of the loan didn't stop interest from building up, however, and Sirius was fully aware that most families had no way of paying back even the _principal_, much less the interest.

The last thing they had looked over had been investments. Sirius had spent millions upon millions of galleons in the last hour and half, which **had** to be a record. He had bought enough shares in several companies to take control, and had bought many more companies outright. He would make his money back eventually, so he wasn't too worried about it since it came from the Black family vault and not from his own personal vault in the first place. He supposedly had the rest of time to make back his money anyway.

All in all, Sirius had the pureblooded world in a tight choke hold. There were a few families that weren't extremely easy to touch – the Malfoys and the Weasleys, for example – but most of the members of pureblood society would be bowing to him for one reason or another. Let it never be said that the Blacks were above using blackmail.

He sighed in exhaustion (who knew that going through papers could be so tiring?) before speaking, "I trust that you'll have the papers sent immediately?"

"You can count on it, Master Black," the goblin replied dutifully.

"I certainly hope so for your sake, Ragnok," Sirius stared him down for long seconds before carrying on with the conversation, "I'll take the duchess's jewels before I go."

Ragnok nodded once before he bowed low and strode out the door. Sirius gathered his copies of the papers with a wave of his hand, binding them together and shrinking them before they even reached his fingers. He tucked the small package safely into the inner pocket of his robes as he walked out the door. He half expected aurors to be waiting outside in the hallway, but, fortunately, he was proven wrong as he walked into a completely deserted corridor.

He walked up to the desk, impatiently rapping on the wood. The goblin sitting behind it looked at him in pure nervousness. "K...ke...key...please," it held out its hand as it stuttered.

Sirius almost let out a laugh, "The bank is closed except to _me_, and you want _me_ to prove who _I_ am?"

"Sta...stand...standard...pro...procedure," it stated nervously.

"Here," he handed over his key, "make this quick."

The goblin looked over Sirius's key for a few seconds before practically throwing it back into his outstretched hand in its nervousness. It then nodded once before producing three shrunken boxes from under the desk.

Sirius enlarged the cases and opened each one in turn to inspect the contents. Once he was satisfied that the jewelry was in perfect order, he shrunk them once again and placed them into the inner pocket along with his papers. He could simply hope that everything he had obtained throughout the day would be enough to rekindle Alex's confidence in him. That thought served for nothing other than to make him suddenly feel bad all over again. He quickly turned his attention back to the ring on his finger, and with one last sigh felt the tug on his bellybutton that meant he was being taken away from Gringotts and towards home.

-------------------

Alex had the feeling of being distinctly out of place in the enormous house. Sirius had always spoiled her beyond the point of rottenness, sure, but they had never really been surrounded by as much wealth and luxury as was blatantly displayed in Black Mansion. She was reasonably sure that the art collection decorating the entrance hall alone was worth more than most families' entire houses. Everything was of the utmost quality and obviously very expensive. To be perfectly honest, she was more than a little in awe of her new environment.

She was currently exploring the gigantic library, which towered up at four stories tall. Bookshelves lined every available space along the walls, leaving only just enough room for furniture in the center of the floor. The only light was provided solely from the floor to ceiling window that took up an entire wall by itself. The room was incredibly magnificent by any standards just from the architecture by itself, but the decor was amazing, too. Heavy, dark, obviously ancient furniture adorned the room, accented by beautiful antique vases and sculptures.

Alex had to admit that she was completely in love with her new home. She felt completely royal among such fine surroundings and objects. Unfortunately, she also had to admit that she had completely no clue how to find her way around the place. The halls and rooms were arranged in such a complex labyrinth that she didn't know how _anyone_ was able to navigate their way around. She immediately made a mental note to ask Sirius about it, but that single innocent thought quickly turned her mind directly towards the thoughts she was trying to avoid.

She'd hurt Sirius's feelings. Really, truly, deeply hurt them. She'd led him to believe that she didn't trust him, which wasn't the truth at all. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would never let anything happen to her. He would gladly throw himself in front of the Hogwarts Express if it would in any way stop her from being hurt. What she wasn't so sure of was the fact that something like that would never happen. She didn't trust him to stay out of trouble. Her issue had nothing to do with her own safety, but, rather, with his ability to keep _himself_ safe.

Making an effort to shake aside her negative (and, frankly, quite guilt-ridden) feelings, she turned her attention back to her surroundings. The thousands upon thousands of books were really a very impressive sight, but there was only so long the view could hold her attention. She moved back through the doors and into the wide corridor once again, ready for her next discovery. She chose the first door she came to without giving it much thought. Upon entering, however, there wasn't really a lot to recommend the room, if it could even be called a room. It was really just a long and extra-wide hallway as far as she could tell.

Portraits lined the walls all the way down. The people portrayed were all very stately. She could barely make out a single one that didn't have silky-looking black hair and pale skin, so she assumed that it was a family gallery of sorts. Furthermore, all of the people depicted were men. She decided that the room was worth exploring after several seconds of contemplation on the subject. It wasn't as if she had anything better to do anyway.

She stepped fully into the space, allowing the door to swing shut behind her. The noise caught the attention of the wizards in the portraits nearest to her, and suddenly Alex found herself the center of their attention. She ignored the whispers that were exchanged between the wizards as she walked slowly through the room. Paintings of a bunch of strange wizards were hardly interesting, but one particular portrait _did_ manage to catch her eye. At the very end of the hall all by itself in the center of the wall was Sirius's picture. He looked younger than he did now. Alex's guess was that it had been painted several years before she'd met him, but it was still undeniably him. She studied it closely, finding the artist's work to be fantastic. She would be the absolute hardest critic to please, too, since she'd spent the last decade memorizing every last millimeter of the man.

It seemed like everywhere she went in this place was going to remind her of him. Normally she wouldn't have minded, but then again he'd never been so upset with her before either. The knowledge that he was so furious was weighing on her immensely. Even his portrait refused to crack a smile at her! A frown settled over her features as she spun around and stalked out of the room. Her intention was to stomp directly to the entrance hall and wait for the stubborn prick to get home. Her plan hit a snag, however, when she realized that she really had no idea how to get _back_ to the entrance hall.

She turned in the opposite direction from the library doors, which seemed the logical thing to do, and walked to the end of the corridor, where there were three more halls going in three completely different directions. She shrugged and used the most effective decision making tool known to man...eenie, meenie, minie, mo...

In the end, it was the corridor to the far left that she turned into. Four sighs of frustration and an equal number of eenie meenie minie mo's later and she was starting to get upset. Forget amazing...this house was _ridiculous_! She hadn't gotten this lost in Hogwarts Castle!

She was too busy cursing the very ground she walked on to be paying much attention to her surroundings at this point, but it soon became glaringly obvious that such behavior was a mistake. She was aware of a shadow looming over her, and looked up only to encounter fangs the size of her arm. She jumped backwards in surprise, suddenly finding herself out of breath even though she hadn't so much as screamed. She gaped at the pair of vicious teeth in front of her for a few moments before she snapped out of it enough to focus on something else. Her eyes trailed up the fangs to the face of the offending monster...an enormous snake. She couldn't tell _exactly_ how big it was because it was coiled up, its head stretched out and its mouth wide opened as if it was striking at something, but it was big _enough_.

She backed blindly away from the trophy, still in shock from the encounter. Her retreat was halted, however, by a sharp pain in her back, and she found herself jumping again. She spun around with a gasp, coming face to claws with what she was sure was a nundu. Not that she'd ever actually _seen_ one, but either the enormous leopard was unmistakably just that creature or she was a blushing virgin, and the former seemed to be a far more truthful statement. She only briefly found herself wondering how in _hell_ they could have possibly gotten one before her gaze trailed off to the side.

Her mouth fell opened as she stared around the large gallery she had stumbled upon. There were creatures everywhere. The basilisk and the nundu were both displayed quite prominently in the middle of the space, but more beasts were situated in various positions of honor all the way around the room. Not just "dark" or deadly ones either. Sure, she could quite clearly make out a yeti, an acromantula, and a kappa...but there was also a hippogriff...and even a _unicorn_! It was the last that made her sick to her stomach. For there, running along a wall, was an entire herd of unicorns...That anyone would want the body of even a single unicorn was absolutely appalling, but to deliberately kill a herd was unthinkable! That's what had been done, too, because along with the enormous stallion and a few mares were foals still in their pure golden state. They would _never _have died naturally.

Alex turned and ran out of the awful room without daring to look back. She didn't put a single thought into her actions as she rushed down corridors and through doorways without hesitating once. Eventually, however, she had to stop, and she chose to do so when she could feel Sirius's presence suddenly closer to her. She realized with relief that he must have come through the wards for her to be able to feel him so clearly. She looked at her surroundings once more – luckily finding no more hunters' galleries – and immediately rushed to the nearest window at the far end of the hallway she was in. The enormous front gates were visible extremely far away in the distance, and growing ever closer was the carriage coming at a steady pace down the driveway.

Sirius seemed to serve as a beacon for her, and her mind wasn't required in the least for her to continue on her journey. It was as if her feet new instinctively where to take her to meet her lover. In contrast to her _original_ idea of ripping him limb from limb when she saw him, at this particular point in time she wanted nothing more than for his quite intact limbs to hold her. Any feelings she may have once entertained about being upset with him paled in significance to her unadulterated **_need_** to be reassured that he loved her. She had experienced _pure_ evil when she had seen the slaughtered unicorns...all stuffed and positioned in poses so mockingly portraying what they would have looked like if they were free and wild had they been allowed to live. The only thing she needed now was to feel something other than the evil.

She came to a stop in front of yet another set of elegantly enormous double doors. She was maddeningly terrified now that she was facing what she'd been chasing after. Would he even _want_ to hold her? Much less comfort her? Panic welled up in her chest as her mind started to betray her into thinking that he would want nothing more to do with her, much like he'd ignored her when they'd first arrived. However, his voice filtering through the door led her to immediate action.

She burst blindly through the door only to collide with something hard and immovable. She leapt backwards in an attempt to move away, almost managing to trip and fall in her effort to escape from whatever the hell it was that she'd rammed into _now_. She never succeeded in hitting the floor, however, because strong arms wrapped around her. She snapped out of her panic induced daze at the feeling, and immediately leaned back into the hard chest she had foolishly been trying to escape just moments before. She would recognize those arms anywhere, and was actually rather surprised that she hadn't immediately known that it was him since she _had_ been following after him, after all.

He hesitated for one frightening moment as Alex snuggled even further into his chest, but in the end he wrapped his arms around her in return. She sighed in relief that he had apparently forgiven her for their earlier disagreement. She wrapped her arms around his waist as she whispered, ''I missed you."

He valiantly decided not to mention the obviously terrified state she was in since she certainly didn't mention it first...and said instead, ''I missed you, too."

''You were gone for a long time," Alex accused softly.

He stepped closer, ''Well, it gave you plenty of time to explore."

She tugged him sharply to her, hiding her face in his chest, "Don't you ever leave me alone again, Sirius Black."

He jumped in surprise at the sudden tug, and his body pressed closer to hers automatically. She could feel him pressing against her stomach, and she finally allowed herself to smile into his chest as she moved her hands lower and lower on his back. He moaned, ''Tell me, Love, did you get a chance to explore the bedroom?"

''No, I got lost...but I would have waited for you anyway," she looked at him lustfully, letting those much preferable feelings drown out the horrible ones she'd been feeling all too strongly.

Her stare could best be described as a leer, and he stared back at her in growing lust. Their gazes locked and Alex watched excitedly as Sirius's eyes turned darker and darker with every passing second. The sudden insistent thrust of his hips against her managed to give her a new sense of urgency. She used her grip on his ass to pull him roughly against her. As expected, he did nothing to resist her. On the contrary, he groaned in approval.

Alex suddenly found herself swept up into his arms. She appreciated the removal of their height difference very much, and immediately took advantage of it by kissing him. She wound her legs around his waist as he walked and their tongues and teeth fought for dominance in their kiss.

Any ideas she had about him taking her to bed were quickly diminished when her back hit the wall. She broke off their kiss with a gasp, ''Sirius..."

"Can't wait..." he ground out roughly even as his hands made quick work of the buttons on her jeans.

Alex couldn't very well argue with _that - _who _could_? - so she reached for his zipper. A strangled groan came from him as her hands finally touched his bare skin, but it didn't last for long. He pushed her hands out of the way after just a few moments and pressed her roughly into the wall. They came together hard and fast, sounds of pleasure torn from both of their throats. Sirius wrapped an arm around her waist, using it to continuously pull her closer until it was borderline on painful. Adding to discomfort, the back of her head insisted on banging into the wall. To remedy that situation, she leaned her head forward to rest against his shoulder.

She kissed his neck lightly, mumbling into his skin, ''I love you."

An incoherent moan and a tightening of his grip around her waist were the only indications she received that he'd heard her...until his movements suddenly increased. Her languid kisses against his neck turned brutal. She bit into his skin as she screamed, but he still didn't let up until after she'd come back down. She clung to him loosely as he stopped for a few moments.

She lifted her head from his shoulder to meet his lips, but he broke from her kiss after several seconds and moved to her neck. He licked and sucked gently as he moved again. His movements were the complete opposite of his kisses. He was completely absorbed in his own pleasure. Luckily for him, Alex had his pleasure in mind, too. She leaned back a little and ran her hands along his chest, paying special attention to every part of him that she knew to be very sensitive. That paired with her muscles wrapped around him caused him to groan appreciatively. It didn't take very long for him to tense against her.

They sagged against the wall, still clinging to each other, and kissed leisurely as they caught their breath. Sirius eventually pulled his head away from her neck and smiled smugly at her. She normally would have been very annoyed by his attitude, but at that very moment she couldn't bring herself to mind. She started to kiss him softly, but, of course, it turned into a passionate one.

Sirius finally pulled back with his smug grin still firmly in place, ''Ready to go to bed now?"

'I'm ready to talk now," she informed him honestly.

Sirius looked at her as if she'd cancelled his birthday. He was watching her with a wary look in his eyes. It was as if he fully expected her to turn on him at any moment, and that hurt Alex more than she would ever care to admit. It absolutely killed her that she'd truly hurt him that much.

She laid her head on his shoulder again and whispered mournfully into his ear, "I'm sorry that I hurt you."

He tensed up, ''Well, that doesn't mean that you didn't mean what you said."

''I _did _mean what I said, but you took it completely the wrong way!" she informed him.

''Pray tell, Love, how was I _meant _to take it?'' he glared at her.

Alex almost let her anger return, but then she caught sight of the still hurt look in his eyes. She wound her arms around his neck, "I didn't mean that I think you're incapable of taking care of me, my love...I'm just afraid that you won't take care of _yourself_."

"I'm not going to leave you," his whole demeanor softened, "I promise I won't."

She smiled at his attempt, "Don't promise something like that, Sirius. You know that if it was between keeping me safe or keeping yourself safe that you'd throw yourself to the masses...stupid, stubborn man."

"Fine, Love," he gave in with a sigh, "I promise that I'll be more careful in the future...Do you want to see all the hard work I've done today? You can tell me if you approve."

"You mean right this very moment?" she purred into his ear, "Because right now I think I _do_ feel a pressing need to explore the bedroom."

--------------------

It was already pitch black outside the window by the time they finally found the time to talk about Sirius's plan. They had spent a very significant amount of time exploring the bed - Alex had already memorized the exact texture of the sheets - but they hadn't so much as spoken outside of the moans and groans generally associated with their activity. She just hadn't been given a proper reason to deprive herself of the silk sheets...not to mention the extremely handsome wizard tangled up in them. Chatting just hadn't been very high up on her do-to list.

Now they were tangled up in the sheets and with each other, which was their favorite position for talking. Alex listened to the words even as she felt the vibrations of speaking from her position lying on his chest, "...I'm perfectly sure that we'll be safe, Love."

"Mmm..." she shifted up to look at his face, "and how are you so sure?"

"The language of money speaks to everyone," he answered with a shrug, "I'm going to blackmail them, of course."

Alex lifted her head to stare at him in surprise, "With _what_?"

Sirius lifted his hand from its place rubbing her back, and she turned to watch curiously as something shot out of his robes, which had been haphazardly thrown over the back of a chair. He silently enlarged the bundle before handing it to her. She inspected the papers briefly, finding quite a few interesting things along the way. It was a wonder to her that he'd managed to obtain such things.

"You see?" he sighed, "With all of that I don't think we'll be having any problems out of the purebloods."

Alex let out a laugh, "No, they don't strike me as the type to _willingly_ give away their money or their titles...but what if they have something like this against the Blacks?"

Sirius started laughing at that, "Oh, Love, that's impossible. My family is tight with money as a general rule...And even if the accounts _did_ get low no one in this family would ever borrow from anyone. There are enough resources and businesses under our control to make back the money after a while without anyone ever needing to know."

Alex didn't feel any need to argue with him on that point. She'd never seen the bank ledgers so she really had no reason to think differently from what he said. Trusting him was something that she was making more of an effort to do anyway. She couldn't keep silent about some things, though, "Sirius...I found something today."

He sat up further, propping himself up on his elbows, "Like what?"

Alex twisted the sheets nervously between her fingers, "Like..._trophies_."

"Oh," he caught on immediately, "I'd hoped that you wouldn't find out about that until later."

"They killed _unicorns_, Sirius!" she couldn't hold it in anymore, "**_Unicorns_**!...Who would do such a thing!"

Sirius sighed, "That would be my lovely Aunt Elladora...She was Phineas Nigellus's sister and she was never married, you see, so she depended on her brother to take care of her and ended up staying here whenever he did...She had a thing for trophies. She started the tradition of beheading house elves and even tried to make it legal to hunt muggles once. All of the beasts in that room were added over generations, but she decided to add her own little something to it."

"But _unicorns_?" Alex demanded, "That's barbaric!"

"Well, who else do you know that could possibly obtain unicorns? No one else except the Malfoys had enough money to even _think_ about trying something so cruel and useless. That's always the motive behind the family's actions: to prove that the Blacks are superior to everyone else...Not to mention the fact that it served as a warning. Who in their right mind would want to start trouble with a family that was evil, merciless, and remorseless enough to have a herd of unicorns murdered and then displayed so proudly?" he explained, his voice taking on a bitter tone.

Alex was still mortified by the whole thing, but she decided to take mercy on him and drop the subject of the unicorns. Instead, she picked a topic that wasn't _wholly_ unrelated, "What about the nundu? That seems like it would be _way_ more impossible to get."

He opened his mouth to answer, but it was someone else's voice that was heard first, "_Alex_?"

They both jumped as the whisper startled them out of their own world. Alex recovered a split second later, though, and was off of the bed before Sirius could properly respond at all. She practically flew across the room to the corner by the door where their bags had been placed. She tossed things out of her way without a care as to where they landed, and in the end came up triumphant...a small mirror in her grasp and a smile on her face.

"Draco!" her voice was noticeably more happy than it had been just seconds before. She literally skipped back to the bed as she waited for his response, flouncing onto the mattress and bouncing until she got comfortable leaning into Sirius's side.

A moment passed before his somber face appeared in the mirror, "I wanted to talk to you before I leave in the morning."

"I was going to call you later tonight," Alex said apologetically, "when I was sure Lucius would be asleep."

The boy still looked deadly serious, "That's what I figured...Only I won't be able to answer later tonight so I called you now. I'm not with Father anyway."

Alex managed to ask, "Where are you?" at the exact same time Sirius said, "Ask him where he is!"

"I'm at the Manor for the moment, but we're going to leave soon...There was an attack, but no one will tell us anything...Blaise's father was killed, so he came over here while they get everything sorted out. Mother says it isn't safe and she's going to take us somewhere to get on the train first thing in the morning," he was doing a rather good job keeping his emotions in check. Alex suspected he was trying to stay strong for his friend, but she could tell that he was frightened.

"Tell Blaise that I'm sorry about his father," she offered up the only thing she could think of to say incase Blaise himself was hanging over Draco's shoulder much like Sirius was doing to hers.

Draco shook his head, "Oh, he isn't particularly upset about it...but he says 'thank you' anyway."

"Are you sure that _you're_ okay, Draco?...I mean nothing happened near _you_ did it?"

"No, I'm okay. Nothing has happened around here that I know about..." he trailed off momentarily, sighing in defeat, "Mother is yelling for us, Alex...I'd better go..."

Alex was severely disappointed that they didn't have the opportunity to talk longer. She frowned, "Write me the second you have a chance...and don't get into trouble!...and make sure to pack warmly just in case!...and, Draco, do at least _try_ to play nicely with others!"

"Alex, don't worry so much!" the boy cracked a smile for the first time, "I'll be fine!...I really have to go now, though."

"Bye, Draco," she said reluctantly, "from both of us."

His smile remained in place, "Bye, Alex, Sirius...I'll write you soon." With that, the platinum blond head disappeared from the mirror, and they were left alone again.

Alex looked over at Sirius, whom she could sense was very tense. His face was a mask of perfect seriousness, and she was all too familiar with the expression. He was plotting.

--------------------

A/N: There actually isn't much at all to say...

Just a note...it _is_ evil to kill a unicorn and a curse is placed upon those who do it. However...from what I gathered in SS/PS, the curse only goes into effect if you drink the unicorn's blood (which is really the only reason _most_ people would kill one)...Therefore, no one in the Black family is cursed and no one is immortal from killing them.

And for those who don't know...a nundu is an enormous leopard. It is considered the most dangerous creature in existence...It's breath is deadly and it can take out whole towns...Also, it takes over a hundred wizards to take one out...as opposed to say a dozen or so for a dragon.


	37. Nott's Not So Nice Nemesis

A/N: Well, I got this one out quicker than the last few! I no longer have grades, finals, and Christmas related spending to worry about so maybe things will go faster for a good long while. I wouldn't want to jinx myself so I won't promise anything, but I'm hoping things will progress in the next few weeks.

In this chapter you'll get a more in depth view of a character that you've seen once before...The **warning** here is that there'll be a lot of non-Alex related flirting, come ons, and talk about love...Sirius was a busy little boy-whore back in the day, after all.

Oh!! I almost forgot!! Before anyone gets confused by the definitions (yes, a vocabulary lesson...so shoot me!)...

A **mass murderer** is someone who kills a group of people all at one time...Like killing 13 people with a single curse.

A **serial killer** is someone who kills any number of people over a period of time...If the 13 people would have been killed one each night for 13 nights.

--------------------

In reference to a review...I know that it said in OotP that Andromeda was Sirius's favorite cousin. There are a few things to take into account, though:

1. There is more than one kind of favorite...What I mean is that Sirius isn't restricted to picking just _one_ favorite...According to the family tree that J.K. Rowling made, Andromeda is older than Sirius by a pretty good margin. I didn't have time to get into it in the actual story before the question came up (as I knew it would eventually), but my belief for the purpose of this story is that she was his favorite cousin as far as the fact that she was older and therefore "cool" when he was a kid, she defied the family (which is something Sirius would have looked up to), and she got disowned just like he eventually did (making him identify with her). That doesn't mean that he couldn't have a favorite cousin closer to his own age, as well (I know that Narcissa is actually older than him, too, but not by as many years as Andromeda). I mean, there are the people you look up to...then there are the people you play with and talk to all the time.

2. Sirius knew that Harry had no fluffy feelings for the Malfoys. Why would he have said "Yeah, you hate them and all...but you remember that ice bitch at the Quidditch World Cup? Malfoy's mother, you know? Yeah, well, she's my favorite cousin!" And I would say that if Sirius _did_ consciously make the decision not to tell Harry that..then he made a good decision considering Harry's reaction to finding out that he was related to the Malfoys at all.

3. Also take into consideration that no one knows what is going to happen in the story except for me. Who's to say that Sirius couldn't have changed his mind a dozen times before he tells Harry that Andromeda is his favorite cousin? I'm not giving a definite answer to give anything away...but there are a ton of different scenarios that could take place...I mean Sirius might have just been telling Harry one thing and feeling another, he might have really changed his mind and not liked Narcissa anymore, he might like both of them and just be omitting information to keep the peace...no one will know until we get there.

--------------------

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Alex had been hard pressed to convince him not to leap out of bed the very moment he'd formulated half an idea. The fear and anger he felt had settled into a hard mask of ice over his handsome face and his temper had been on a very short fuse. It had only taken one cross word to Alex, however, for him to get his act together. Sirius Black had found himself flat on his back with a perfectly manicured hand at his throat. After that he'd decided that he wasn't the only one who was worried and more than a little stressed out, and he'd come to the conclusion that Draco could survive without his interference in death eater affairs for at least the night.

And so it wasn't until the morning that the "innocent" people of a shabby back street in London were exposed to the wrath that was Sirius. A long night of groveling hadn't helped his stormy disposition to improve, and more than a few people were quite taken aback by his furious glare. The residents and frequenters of this neighborhood knew much better than to mess with such a well-dressed man, especially one whose ensemble included a long leather coat seemingly made for concealing weapons (actually, it was made of dragon hide, but what do muggles know?)...It was widely known that any rich man in _their_ neighborhood obviously had to be someone's boss...and they _especially **especially**_ knew that they wouldn't want to cross the man when he was so obviously furious. Such important "businessmen" only came to this street if someone had royally fucked up, after all, and no one wanted in the way of a man out for blood. It was this general consensus among the population that saved Sirius the trouble of getting annoyed, losing his precariously maintained temper, and killing someone. All in all, it was a relief to everyone involved when he turned into a bar, leaving the open street. Of course, the witnesses _did_ think it a shame that the pub's owner was getting paid such a visit...he was well-liked, after all.

Sirius himself wasn't at all upset by the whispers around him. As a matter of fact, he welcomed the gossip mill as it kept anyone from bothering him. He didn't even bother to ask before admitting himself into the door marked _PRIVATE!_. He wasn't sure if it was recognition or fear that kept the bartender from attempting to stop him, but he welcomed this ease of entry nonetheless. He didn't take the same route as on his last visit, though, instead opting to head for what he knew to be the bedroom. His instincts were proven correct upon opening the door. There on the bed, with two girls wrapped around him, was the object of his search.

He stalked forward purposefully and ripped the blankets off, "Get up!"

The reaction was immediate since anyone who fell asleep around here was smart enough to be a light sleeper. The girls both let out shrieks and scrambled to cover their naked forms even as they tried to retreat away from the intruder. The man in the center of the bed, though, let a smile form on his lips as he stretched, completely unashamed of his nudity.

"Come to see me, handsome? How convenient that I'm already undressed in bed!" he grinned suggestively.

"I'm not here to use you like a whore, Rip, but I guess that disappoints _you_," Sirius raised an eyebrow at his once good friend.

The man frowned in mock seriousness, "You just want to _talk_ while I'm having fantasies of you?"

Sirius shrugged his shoulders in an unaffected manner, "You can jack off to those fantasies while we're talking for all I care so long as you answer my questions."

"Oh, _alright_," Rip sighed dramatically, "Can't I just have a kiss?...Just a little one, handsome, to tide me over until you agree to bugger me silly...or let me do you, yeah?...I'm not picky."

"There'll be no buggering of anyone," Sirius stated as he watched the other man roll out of bed and pull on a pair of trousers, forgoing a shirt.

Rip gave him a bright smile, "But there will be a kiss?"

Sirius finally let a smile touch the corners of his mouth, though it didn't even halfway reach his eyes. He leaned against the doorframe as he studied the man in front of him, "If you tell me what I want I'll be easier to convince...Although then you'd probably wake up to Alex holding a knife to your throat."

The girls were still pressing themselves against the far wall watching Sirius in fear. Rip grabbed each of them by the arm, showing them unceremoniously to the door and threw their clothes out after them as he addressed Sirius again, "Ah, yes, how _is_ your woman?"

"Furious at me," was the reply.

Rip chuckled as he slammed the door closed behind the girls, "You do enjoy spirited ones, don't you?...Alright then, what do you want to talk about?"

The man was standing not a foot away from him, quite unabashedly trying to make out his form beneath the coat. Sirius ignored this fact, "Nott."

Rip sucked in a breath, "_Why_?"

"I don't like the man," Sirius answered easily, "We're long time enemies."

"You can't be thinking about _challenging_ him! That's insane! He'll have you killed!" brown curls fell into his eyes as he leaned forward, completely serious for once in his life.

"I joined up with your group of friends, I got arrested for murder, I'm currently on the run, and you don't think I'm pretty experienced at this sort of thing?" he raised on eyebrow at the other man.

Rip leaned even further forward, "Did you really do it? Have you killed people?"

"I have," Sirius informed him calmly.

The other man looked startled for a few moments, but his curiosity quickly overpowered him, "You really are a serial killer, then?"

"_Technically_ I was arrested for being a mass murderer, but serial killer was really a more accurate term...at the time anyway," he added after thinking of the curse he'd created and taken to using, "I can safely say that mass murderer has become a fair adjective to use since then."

Rip was silent for a few seconds. He lowered his eyes, refusing to meet Sirius's gaze, and for a fleeting moment he thought that he'd finally managed to chase the man off. However, it only lasted a few moments before brown eyes met his again. They were still brimming with the lust that was always present, but there was something else there, too. There was fear filling not just Rip's eyes, but his whole face as well. At first Sirius thought that it was fear of him, but the sudden death grip on his arm disillusioned him of that idea.

"You really think that you can stop Nott?" the man's expression was pleading with him to say yes.

Sirius placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "I don't know what he's doing for me to stop...but if all else fails I can always kill him. I wouldn't feel a tiny shred of regret over that."

"You're so brave...I've always envied you that, you know. You were always so strong no matter what, even when you were just a pretty boy teenager. You think you can take him down and you probably will...I just wish I was as strong," the earnest expression on his face showed just how sincere his words were.

Sirius leveled an intense stare on him, "What are you going on about?"

He was finally able to identify the other emotion on Rip's face as he spoke. It was shame. "I...I couldn't help it, Sirius. He came in talking about getting rid of all the riff-raff, and that's what I wanted...You can't walk outside without fear of being attacked, and he was promising that he'd stop it all..."

"You joined him," Sirius stated flatly.

"He seemed so nice, so charming," Rip's eyes pleaded with him for understanding, "I didn't know! I swear I didn't! I didn't know..."

Sirius's eyes bored into the other man's. Eventually he decided that Rip was being honest in his regret, "It's alright...Tell me what you know. What's he been up to?"

Rip let go of him all of a sudden and moved to sink down onto the bed. When he lifted his eyes back to Sirius's the fear was still glaringly obvious. He took a shuddering breath before he spoke, "He said he was going to get rid of the worst people...but he teamed up with them instead. People have died, Sirius...people who did nothing more than refuse to do something for him...I know none of us are innocent...they've seen me doing the worst, I've seen them doing the worst...but none of those people deserved to die. The people who deserve to die, if _anyone_ does, are the people who Nott has teamed up with!"

"What has he made you do to live, Rip?" Sirius kneeled in front of the bed. He felt like he was comforting a scared child.

"It was just supposed to be a meeting...but when I got there..." he broke off to take a deep breath, "...when I got there, there was a man there that I knew...that I was friends with. A good man, if not an entirely innocent one...They killed him...right in front of me...and all I could do was watch. I couldn't...couldn't _react_...couldn't yell...couldn't move..." tears still hadn't fallen, although they could be seen welling up in his eyes, "They left me alone for weeks, but then he sent someone to...to _talk_ to me...to give me orders, more like...There's a man they want me to kill...He gave me a _deadline_, Sirius..."

Sirius didn't need the other man to go on to grasp the extent of Nott's goings on. It was actually just as he'd suspected. Nott was using the muggles to make money and getting his rocks off by killing a few just because he could, too. Sirius didn't particularly care to find out _how_ he was making money off the muggles, it was just obvious that he was...It would take a trip to Gringotts to get the proper blackmail material, but Sirius was confident that he was going to be able to take Nott down quite a few pegs. There might be a few other death eaters involved in making money off the muggles since quite a number of them were desperate for money, but the hardcore believers in their cause – Malfoy, the Lestranges, etc. – would kill them for the offense of working with anything less than purebloods...if they found out about it. Granted it _was_ funny as hell since they'd all groveled in the dirt in front of a halfblood, but that's just how it was.

"It'll work out," Sirius told the man in front of him, "I have what I need to take the bastard down."

Rip hadn't cried during the entire conversation, and his face was still tear-free. However, he looked awful. He was scared of killing a man, scared of being killed himself if he _didn't_ do it, and scared that he would never be able to get out of the mess he'd gotten himself into.

Sirius sighed in resignation of the fact that he'd have to do the job of comforting someone other than Alex, "Come on, let's go get something to drink."

Rip immediately agreed, and Sirius knew that it was because he needed to get a large amount of alcohol into his body to feel like himself again. It was still too early in the morning for very many people to be at the pub anyway, so Rip didn't bother to properly get dressed before they walked back into the public part of the building. They took seats at the very end of the bar as Rip called out, "Johnny, get us some drinks, would you?"

The hulk of a man walked over to them, drinks already poured before even taking their orders. Sirius raised an eyebrow at the mug that was placed in front of him, and Rip looked at him after he'd taken a generous swig of his own drink, "This is all I drink...You can tell him to get you something else if you want."

Sirius shrugged and tipped his own mug back for a taste before he answered, "No, this is fine."

They drank in silence, Sirius knowing that Rip wouldn't appreciate him **ever** bringing it up again now that it was over. The quiet went on through several drinks with nothing more than orders for more. Although he didn't ask if he was okay, Sirius did take the time to study the man beside him carefully. He'd once considered the man almost a best friend...not as close as James, of course, no one could ever compare to Prongs...but Rip hadn't been trailing too far behind the rat as far as how much Sirius valued their friendships. They had seen each other several times a week and had shared a lot with one another...The only reason that he had never actually achieved best friend status was because Sirius couldn't tell him about magic. Not being able to share something that's one of the most important aspects of your life is a definite hindrance to a friendship. Nonetheless, he'd _almost_ have admitted to caring about his muggle friend all those years ago...and maybe it was just the urge to have social relationships again after a decade without any friends, but Sirius found that he really wanted to take back having left all those years ago. Honestly, it'd been a waste to leave anyway. His life had gone to hell regardless of what kind of people he'd hung around in the end.

"Have you seen anyone else from the old days?" Rip's sudden and unexpected question snapped Sirius out of his reverie.

He took another drink as he thought about all the people he'd walked out on, "No."

"What makes me special then?" the other man asked, "I would have thought you'd have picked Denney over me if you just wanted to reconnect with the past."

"I didn't just want to reconnect with the past," Sirius replied frankly, "I wanted information."

Rip was silent for a few moments before speaking again, "And you couldn't find her so you came to me?"

"I never looked for her," Sirius turned to fully face his companion, "Why all these questions? I heard no one's seen her in years anyway."

"No one _has_ seen her in almost as long as no one had seen _you_. Actually, everyone kind of figured the two of you had run off together until your name ended up in the news and hers didn't...then there was the bit about that bird you kidnaped," he took another gulp of his drink, "I just figured that you would have gone to her before you came to me. I was kind of hoping _you_ knew where she was."

Sirius realized for the first time exactly what they'd put the man through. Both he _and_ Denney – Rip's two closest friends as he'd confessed to them on several occasions – had left at almost the same time without any explanations. "I haven't seen her since the last night we spent here," he stated truthfully.

Silence prevailed for several more minutes before Rip broke it again, "Why did the two of you leave?"

"We didn't leave _together_, just for the record. We just happened to come to that decision at the same time, but for different reasons," he ran a hand through his silky mop of hair, "I don't think either of us thought about you, to be honest. We were both so caught up in ourselves that we didn't stop to ponder how you'd feel about it all. She did tell me that she left because she was ready to settle down, if knowing why makes you feel any better."

Rip must have realized that Sirius had deliberately left out why he himself had left (and that he wasn't likely to elaborate on the subject) because he didn't press him any further on the topic. Instead, he focused more on Denney, "She told you that?"

"Yeah," Sirius answered, "...why?"

"It's just that if she was ready to settle down then..." he trailed off with a sidelong glance at Sirius, "well...I mean...oh bloody hell...she wanted to settle down with _you_!"

Sirius choked on the mouthful of drink he'd just taken in, eventually managing to speak, "We were just _friends_...friends with benefits...but still just friends!"

A laugh erupted from Rip's mouth, "You stupid git...she was **_in love_** with you! Everyone knew it! I thought _you_ knew it! She drug you off for a bit of love making often enough!"

"Fucking," Sirius corrected, "She drug me off for a bit of _fucking_...I never _made love_ to her."

"Well, she made love to you," the other man responded matter-of-factly.

Sirius gaped at him for several seconds before exclaiming, "Well, she sure shagged a lot of other men in between our 'love making'!"

Rip shook his head to deny it, "She did not! She didn't even shag **me** for the last couple of months she was here...and we'd been shagging for years before you came along. I took her virginity, for heaven's sake!"

Sirius was silent for a while after that comment. Denney and he had taken to shagging like rabbits immediately after they'd met, but they'd both always screwed around with other people...a _lot_ of other people. If Rip was admitting that he hadn't even been good enough to share her bed then it must be true since Rip would never make _that_ up about himself. Sirius guessed that he'd just never noticed it because he'd never thought about her falling in love with him. He wondered at how he'd never caught on to such a thing!

"Well," he finally said, "I didn't know and she never told me."

"I wonder who she went off and married if it wasn't you," Rip pondered.

Sirius shrugged, "It doesn't matter. What are the chances that either of us will ever hear from her again, anyway, if we haven't yet?"

"I guess you're right," his companion admitted, "I just wish I knew what she was up to...I miss her, you know?"

Sirius couldn't say that he did know. He'd thought about her for a while in the way that one thinks about a friend they've lost, but he'd thought about Rip that way, too. In truth he hadn't even thought about either one of them in years. Only the necessity for information that he knew Rip could provide had brought the man to mind at all. He was glad that they'd reconnected and all, and now that they had he was thinking about the past again, but he could have gone the rest of his supposedly eternal life without ever having thought of either one of them again if he hadn't needed Rip's help. And as it stood now he wouldn't be sorry if he never saw Denney again. Rip he could deal with, but he didn't need another woman in his life. Alex provided _more_ than enough estrogen to be getting on with, and he would never be able to get over the fact that Denney had once loved him (he was sure she'd moved on by now, what with getting married and probably popping out a few kids over the years). Alex would sooner rip out another woman's throat than letting her be friends with him anyway. She was far too used to having him all to herself (with the possible exception of Narcissa, but that didn't count).

His mind was far too jumbled now to enjoy his drink. Plus he needed to get to Gringotts and threaten his way into getting access to Nott's bank statements, and that would probably take quite a while. He took another long drink from his mug, needing _something_ to take the edge off...even though most muggle drinks were nothing compared to what he was used to. He didn't need anymore things from the past to be brought up at the moment, so he resolved to end his visit with Rip as quickly as he could. He had other things to worry about at the moment.

--------------------

Alex stared up at Sirius with a great deal of shock. The man always _did_ have some sort of fondness for announcing surprising things during their post-coital cuddling. She didn't know if it was his way of relaxing her before dropping a bomb or if he just wanted to get in one last shag before potentially making her mad enough to deny him for while...but either way she didn't appreciate it. There she was basking in the afterglow, with his weight still pressing her down and her arms still wrapped around him, and he had to go off and ruin it!

"You're not serious!" she exclaimed after a few moments of staring at him as if he'd gone mad (which he had, in her opinion).

He dropped his head to her shoulder, "We're going."

Alex couldn't even bring herself to shove him off! She spluttered for a few moments, finally managing to choke out, "What in _hell_ could you be thinking?"

"That Nott needs to know that I'm back," he replied levelly.

"You said that everyone would know as soon as you modified your accounts!" she reminded him angrily of his words to her some weeks previous.

Sirius sighed against her skin, "Exactly, Love! They know that I'm around! It would look like I was afraid to show my face if we never go out! Nott has to know that I'm not afraid of him or his friends! That I'm back for good, and that they'd better be the ones who are afraid."

"You _should_ be afraid to show your face!" she protested, "Going to some damned _ball_ isn't an option when you're on the run!"

"Listen, Alex," he sat up to stare into her eyes as he used her given name, "Voldemort has been gone long enough that some of the more ambitious death eaters are getting cocky and deciding to take his place. Malfoy has the upper hand because he already has authority in his higher social standing and because he has more money than most of the rest of them combined...Most of them willingly went along with him at first since they were all afraid of messing with Lucius Malfoy, but Nott didn't like it and started doing his own thing...He decided to kill two birds with one stone, you see, and started slumming it with some muggles...He's making money in whatever enterprises it is that they're undertaking and he's also killing off a lot of them in the process...Malfoy will be hard to do anything with, but I can fight Nott without half as many complications. I need to take him out _now_ before he starts making _real_ trouble."

Alex knew that this must have been what he'd found out during the course of the day. He'd been gone all day and had come back looking and smelling like he'd just crawled out of a ditch in Knockturn Alley. She took in all of the information he'd dropped on her, still finding it coming up short for her, "What the hell is your fixation on Nott? Surely Malfoy will take him out! In fact, we should be worrying about Malfoy while he's distracted with Nott!"

"You can't get rid of Malfoy that easily! He's like a fucking cockroach!" Sirius exclaimed before he finally calmed down and continued his reasoning, "Nott is already trying to take over...before Malfoy has a chance to take him out, I guess...Why do you think Blaise's father was attacked? From everything that Draco told us he and Malfoy were obviously chummy, so I'm sure the man was Malfoy's ally in all of this! Nott has support from a lot of people who hate Lucius Malfoy, and that is a _very_ extensive list...Meanwhile, Malfoy's biggest allies are in Azkaban...the Lestranges, Rookwood, Dolohov, Mulciber...Nott is going for Malfoy's remaining allies, and he chose Zabini. What if Draco would have been there, Alex? You know how much time he and Blaise spend at each other's houses...What if he had been there when Nott and his group of death eaters attacked the place! And Draco is at Hogwarts now...the death eaters won't go after Harry just yet for two reasons: they know that security around him will be tight and they won't try to accomplish anything else until they sort out their internal wars anyway. Draco, however, is a completely different story! There'll be no special security in place around him...any death eater with half an excuse to get into the castle could walk in and snatch him, and a ton of death eaters' kids are in his house so it would be nothing to find an excuse to get near him! What better way to hurt Lucius Malfoy than to kill his only heir? They've tried it before, and they'll try it again!"

Alex studied his distressed face carefully, "And you think that attending this..._party_...will help your cause?"

"The death eaters all know that it was me who protected Narcissa and Draco from the last attack on Malfoy Manor...the two of them and Madam Pomfrey didn't exactly keep it a secret... Going against Malfoy is one thing for Nott to undertake, but taking on Malfoy _and_ me at the same time is a completely different playing field...Nott won't want to risk it. Of course, what better way to properly show him that I'm perfectly serious about coming after him if he touches the boy than making a public appearance to threaten him in person about it?" Sirius replied logically, "Besides, just think of his surprise when I show up. He'll be so confused he won't know how to react."

"Why don't you just kill him, then?" she queried in confusion.

Sirius sighed in exasperation, "_Because_...The belief that I am a death eater is all that's keeping most of the pureblooded world from ratting us out to the Ministry. If they knew for certain and without a shadow of a doubt that I was against them they would help the aurors against us in a heartbeat, last of the Blacks or not. If I just walk in after a decade and kill Nott they'll know better than to believe the stories about my allegiance. If, on the other hand, I walk in after a decade and _politely_ request that he leave my cousin alone and he tries something anyway...well, _then_ I would be perfectly justified in killing him. You know, the old 'I _did_ warn you_' _excuse."

"This is too complicated," she complained quietly, "When will our lives ever be easy?"

"When I'm proven innocent, Love," he broke off his intense stare and lowered himself back down, resting his head on her chest and nuzzling into her.

Alex stroked his still sweaty back with one hand and his still damp hair with another, her anger at him completely forgotten in light of his reasons for wanting to drag her into a public ball with no disguises. "Well, this won't exactly help that situation, will it?" she asked rhetorically, "If the Ministry gets wind of this it'll look like you were invited to Nott's death eaters' ball and went to catch up with old friends."

"It doesn't matter. No matter what anything looks like it'll be proof that I'm innocent of those crimes when I find the rat, and they can't _prove_ that I did anything else," his hand came up to tangle in her own hair, "And it's hardly a ball, Love. It's actually an intimate social gathering between close partners...Plus it's being held in a public place, insomuch as a five star restaurant with such a long waiting list for a table can be considered public."

"So you just found out about this gathering today and you expect to get into such an exclusive restaurant on such short notice?" she asked incredulously.

He chucked against her skin, "You still underestimate the power of money and title, my dearest love...They're used to having death eaters around since a good portion of the people who can afford the place are death eaters – plus I wouldn't be surprised if the owner was a death eater, to tell you the truth – so that won't be an issue. Actually, it'll probably just help our case that the infamous Sirius Black has decided to make his first public appearance at their restaurant. Just think of the possibilities for publicity."

"Mmm," Alex murmured in agreement, "and what is one required to wear for such an occasion?"

"Oh, formalwear definitely," he answered quickly.

Alex perked up at this pronouncement. "I do declare, my dearest Mr. Black," she adopted a sarcastically rich accent, "that I shall have to get something new!"

Sirius let out a groan of agony. One would have thought that he'd been mauled by an entire army of dragons for all that he sounded like he was in serious pain. Alex, though, had undergone a complete change of heart. Sirius's explanations paired with the thought of dressing up and going to a strictly exclusive restaurant had made her ecstatic over the whole idea. Crashing a death eater party sounded like a damned good idea if you asked her!

--------------------

It had taken a lot of begging and pleading the following morning, but Sirius had managed to weasel his way out of going shopping with Alex...thank Merlin and everything sacred in the world. She had protested quite vehemently that she had absolutely no idea what would be appropriate for such an occasion, but Sirius had argued right back that he didn't care if she went in a paper bag so long as he didn't have to shop with her...He still hadn't got over the last shopping trip she'd taken him on! In the end, she had decided that his not going with her was actually a good thing. She'd come to the realization that she could buy as much of anything as she wanted if he wasn't there to tell her what she should be looking for to wear to the party. Sirius had barely had time to register this information before she'd swept out the door, leaving as quickly as possible before he had time to tell her no.

She'd come home with barely enough time to get ready (according to her), and had commandeered almost every house elf in the entire house to carry her shopping bags up to her dressing room. Sirius had stood in the hall with his mouth hanging open at the sheer number of packages, but she'd rushed by him too deep in conversation with the house elf she'd picked to do her hair to notice him at all. Dear Merlin, the woman had probably managed to clean out his accounts in a single day! He immediately went to look at his ledger just out of curiosity, and would have choked if he didn't know exactly how money he had. He was just surprised that she'd managed to spend so much all by herself...when before she'd had to have him force her to buy a single thing!

It turned out to be well-worth it, though, when he was interrupted from getting ready himself. He was in the process of buttoning his shirt when Alex made her presence known, "Sirius, will you tell me if you like this one? I'm not sure what kind of style is appropriate..."

Sirius was in the middle of a mental tirade about still having to help her play dress up whether or not he went shopping when he caught sight of her. All thought quickly came to a complete stop. She was utterly, completely, irrevocably breathtaking! The dress was very nearly the same color as her eyes and the intricate detailing made it even more eye-catching. It was clinging to her form as if she was born to wear it, though (to his frustration) it didn't actually show that much skin at all. The neckline was neither too low nor too high, but caught her in just the right place without revealing too much, although the bead work below her bust line drew attention to the area perfectly well without the addition of immoral amounts of cleavage. It continued down, clinging to her body and stopping midway down her thigh, where it split off into separate pieces of almost transparent fabric that floated around her giving teasing glimpses of her perfect legs but never showing them off completely.

"_Well_?" she interrupted his staring, "Sirius, love, I'm up here."

"But your body is down here," he continued to stare, unashamed of it.

She put her hands on her hips in mock anger, "Am I to suppose that you like it, then?"

Sirius suddenly couldn't restrain himself, and he flew across the room with inhuman speed. He moved his hands against the silky fabric as soon as he reached her, yanking her closer to him and burying his face in her neck in the process. He trailed a path of open-mouthed kisses along the narrow strap of her gown, "I like it very much."

"Sirius Black!" she shoved him away from her, "You're going to wrinkle it!"

"But..." he protested petulantly, "...I don't care if I wrinkle it."

Alex slapped away his hand, which had been trying to find its way back to her ass, and backed towards the door, "Well, I care if you do...It'll be alright for tonight?"

"No," he advanced towards her, "I don't want other men staring at you...but you can feel free to wear it after we're all alone later on tonight."

She caught his hands before he could touch her again, keeping a tight hold on them as she leaned up to kiss him on the mouth. She pulled away just as he started to get into it. "To tide you over until tonight, lover," she smirked at him, "I really do have to go get started on my hair now."

Sirius stared after her as she disappeared out the door, his hands still held out in front of him and his lips still parted to receive a kiss. He'd caught sight of the back of her gown as she'd turned away from him...It was backless all the way to her lower back with an intricate pattern of thin straps running across her skin. The view of an expanse of her porcelain skin had in no way helped him cool down. He stared down at himself...his shirt was still only halfway buttoned, he was rumpled from where he'd pulled her against him, and his tailor-made trousers were uncomfortably tight at present. He went about the process of fixing himself up again, all the while wondering whether or not he had time for a cold shower before time to leave.

-----------------

A/N: I thought the chapter was a little...abrupt...especially the last section, though I wasn't happy with the next to last section, either...Oh well, I promise the situation will be more elaborated upon as time goes by. It isn't going to be a meaningless squabble, but will help begin and contribute to the new war as a whole.


	38. The Dark Lord's Lowest Followers

A/N: I've been trying to update for forever now, but the site kept turning me down...which really pissed me off. Just so you know...I used the extra time to expand on the last scene, and I think I overdid it a bit.

Kitza: I'm unsure whether you had just read the first chapter or if you're talking about Chapter Thirty-Seven and just decided to come back and review later and ended up doing it under Chapter One (which seems more logical to me because your comments seem to go with the Rip and Denney thing from 37)...but I agree with you either way. I think a lot of people act in two completely different ways towards their "equals" and other people who don't mean as much (if they mean anything at all) to them...Anyway, I appreciated the review, and just wanted to reply because I like to with all of the ones I get, but had to put it here because you reviewed anonymously and I couldn't reply in private.

And let the above just be a reminder to everyone...I **do** appreciate reviews! Whether it's all nice/flattering or it's to tell me what an utter ass Sirius is being...send it in. I might not take kindly to flames, but constructive criticism and/or comments (whether positive or negative) are entirely welcome and looked forward to.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Alex had never felt so rich before in her entire life...even including the years of Sirius gifting her everything she ever asked for. The fabric of her dress felt silky smooth against her skin as she turned in front of the mirror to inspect herself one last time. She wasn't sure what kind of material it was, but she was fairly certain that she'd never encountered it before. It was softer than silk and so light against her skin that it felt like she wasn't wearing anything at all. Of course, it _should_ be so very luxurious since it'd cost so much. She was happily avoiding talking to Sirius about that subject, actually. It was so expensive, perhaps, because it was done in a muggle style instead of in the traditional style of robes, and wizarding clothing companies priced such styles much higher than anything else for some reason (maybe because it required research to get the styles right?). Sirius had been adamant that she choose something distinctly "non-pureblood", but she'd chosen to purchase from wizards' shops nonetheless to make sure she didn't look _too_ outlandish amongst her pureblood elitist contemporaries.

She quickly switched her thoughts over to something else when she became aware of the man himself entering the room. It wouldn't do to have him pick up on her thoughts that easily...She didn't want him to know that she was nervous. She really shouldn't have worried, though, because he was too busy staring at her to notice that she even _had_ a mind to read. She attempted to catch his gaze in the mirror, but his eyes were intently studying her figure. She took the opportunity to study him right back. He was flagrantly attractive wearing anything at all, of course, but Alex had never had the opportunity to see him dressed like this. He'd forgone wearing wizards' dress robes, as well, but the suit he'd chosen instead was ten times more flattering anyway. It was black (obviously Sirius would never have chosen any other color) and exceptionally tailored to fit him perfectly.

"See something you like?" his voice was huskier than normal, which was a sure sign of his arousal. She was elated that something so simple as a dress could have such an effect on a man who was normally so controlled and stoical.

She finally turned from the mirror to face him, "If you're going to be insufferable every time I look at you then I'm going to stop looking eventually."

He tilted his head to the side as he seemed to contemplate the validity of her statement. Finally, he smirked, "You won't."

"I won't," she agreed with him, "Especially not if you're going to keep on giving me new views to admire...You look nice. I've never seen you like this." Another once over of his appearance brought something else to her attention, "Shouldn't you have fixed your hair?"

He ran a hand through his already horribly ruffled hair. It looked like he'd just come from bed, where their rolling around like animals and her unfailingly moving her hands to his hair at some point or another always left the shaggy mop in a terribly tangled and messy disarray. It was in stark contrast to his impeccable suit. He looked at her with an arrogant look firmly on his face, fixing his cufflinks into place and tugging his sleeves straight as he stared her down. She watched him with a smile on her face, barely managing not to laugh at him. Almost anyone else would have been taken aback by his cold glare, but she could hardly contain her amusement at him. She knew him too well to think that he was really mad at her...even if she _had_ insulted his hair, of all things dear to him.

Finally, he gave her a derisive sniff, "My hair is perfectly fine."

"Well, I think so, too, you know," she walked up to him purposefully, reaching up to push a strand of it out of his eyes, "I just don't think that members of the purebloods' elite society will feel the same way."

"I've never cared what they think. They can slick their hair back and look completely ridiculous if they want to, but I'm not going to," he smirked, "The women always loved me anyway...and of all the things I was complimented on, my hair came in a close fifth behind my influential, well-known name; my brimming Gringott's vaults; my gorgeously sculpted face; and my hot, tight, hard body."

"You'll have to be sure and point out the ones who loved you," she glared at him, "so I can kill them."

He finally let a smile break his serious facade, "There's my girl...possessive, jealous, _murderous_...It's a real turn on."

"Sadist," she accused.

"Maybe," he shot right back, "but what does that make you?"

She rolled her eyes, "The most disappointing lover you've ever had, I guess."

He laughed as he finally bent down to kiss her. "I've got something for you," he said as he pulled back, all pretense of anger forgotten.

"Well, give it to me then," she let her eyes thoroughly inspect him for any likely hiding places, but couldn't find any telltale bumps at any of his pockets.

He grabbed her and turned her around to face the mirror, "Close your eyes."

She obeyed somewhat reluctantly, and he withdrew from her. She didn't know what he was doing, but she didn't dare open her eyes for even a tiny little peek because she knew that he was watching her like a hawk. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she felt his hands come around her neck, and when he pulled them away quite a heavy weight was left in their place.

She didn't wait for him to tell her that it was okay to open her eyes (he would get over it eventually, and if not she'd just shag him into forgiveness) and the sight she was met with caused her mouth to fall open quite impolitely. Around her neck was the most beautiful necklace she'd ever laid eyes on. She recognized it immediately as being one of the diamond necklaces she had viewed at Gringotts on their last trip there together. It was by far the most extravagant and blatantly expensive one in the entire collection.

Sirius suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder so that his face was next to hers as they looked into the mirror together. She leaned back into his hard chest as he spoke, "No one has ever made the jewels look better."

She smiled in acknowledgment of his compliment, but couldn't help but contradict him, "Sirius, my love, I think you have it backwards...It's the jewels that make _me_ look better, not the other way around."

"No," he nipped at her neck to enunciate the word, "_Nothing_ could make _you_ look any better...You're perfect, and, if anything, the necklace just helps to draw attention up and away from your neckline."

"Which is why you want me to wear it," she teased him.

He unwrapped one of his arms from her waist, and she watched in the mirror as he beckoned forward a house elf, which he must have called in when her eyes were closed. The house elf was levitating the entire jewel case in front of itself, and Alex could easily see the sparkle of the rest of the collection of diamonds. The house elf started flittering around her, placing the rest of the most expensive pieces onto her, and finally Sirius answered to her accusation, "I don't want you to wear the necklace...or any of the other jewels, for that matter...to draw anyone's attention away from your figure, even if it _is_ a very good bonus...I want you to wear them because the other purebloods know that only Duchess Black herself is allowed to wear them...Only **_my wife_** would wear them."

She startled the house elf and accidentally flung it away from her when she abruptly turned to face her lover. She stared into his eyes with her own suspiciously wet ones, "But I'm not your wife."

"You might as well be...You _are_ in all the ways that matter...You would have been officially **years** ago if I'd had the chance to do it properly...As it is, obviously this bond we have counts as marriage as far as the family is concerned," he kissed her gently at the end of his speech.

Alex hadn't been so emotional in ages. Her feelings had never diminished even a tiny little bit, obviously. In fact, they'd grown and become more entwined with him than ever...It had been years, though, since she'd been reduced to the role of weeping damsel. Of course, here Sirius was telling her that damsel wasn't the correct word to use...and she blinked to stop from actually crying even as she asked, "What do you mean?"

He smiled, "The house hasn't rejected you, Love. As a matter of fact, it hasn't restricted you from a single thing. From what you've told me of your explorations, it let you wander unescorted into places that are strictly off limits to anyone who isn't officially a Black...namely, me and my wife since we're the only ones left. The magic woven into this house seems to consider you my wife...Of course, I was really just guessing about that up until a few minutes ago, but you wouldn't have been allowed to wear the jewels if you were considered anything less than that...protection charms and all."

The house elf had approached her again, and had her wrist in its grasp as it tried to clasp a bracelet around it. Its attempts were in vain, however, as Alex's hands shot up to wrap around Sirius's waist. She embraced him tightly and tilted her head back to meet his mouth in a kiss.

When he finally released her lips, she put a hand up to carefully pat at her eyes in an attempt to stop the tears from welling up. "You can't make me cry," she said as she picked at an imaginary speck of dust on his lapel with her other hand, "The house elves worked far too hard on my appearance for you to ruin it."

"I guess that means that lifting up your dress and shoving you up against that mirror is out of the question?" his expression was truly forlorn.

She backed away to self-consciously straighten her dress, "No."

He frowned at her for a moment before finally sighing in resignation, "We'd better go then, Love. I'll not be held responsible for my actions if I spend much more time alone with you."

Alex acquiesced, and took Sirius's arm as he led her down the grand staircase towards the apparation point. She was careful to train her expression into one of aloof self-confidence, but inside she was a nervous wreck. She had no doubt that she would always hate crowds, particularly ones made up of death eaters. She was quite sure it would be hell to make it through the evening in one piece...for both her _and_ the people she encountered.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Sirius spoke, "Don't worry so much, Love. These people think I'm Voldemort's right hand."

"How can you be so sure about that? How do you know that these aren't some of the people who know that you _aren't_ a death eater?" she let out a long sigh and rested her head against his arm (very carefully so she wouldn't mess up her hair, of course).

"You have to remember, Love, that none of these people ever made it into the higher ranks," he assured her, "They broke off because they think that they can finally gain more power for themselves now that there isn't a leader. They don't appreciate Malfoy taking over and not giving them anymore attention than ever before, and that's why there's so much trouble at the moment."

Alex didn't reply, and Sirius didn't bother to elaborate any more on the subject. They continued down the stairs in silence, and Alex just hoped that Sirius knew what he was talking about.

--------------------

It had only taken a few seconds for Sirius to take his arm away from Alex's grip. He much preferred to wrap it around her waist so he could pull her closer. Of course, the fact that such a thing would be completely indecorous in polite company was an extra incentive. He'd always enjoyed outraging other purebloods in the first place, but there was also a pressing need to make sure that he stood out in the crowd at the restaurant. If wearing muggle clothes wasn't enough of an attention grabber, public displays of affection certainly would be.

As if he wasn't already aware of it just from reading her thoughts, he could tell that she was nervous because he could feel how tense she was against his side. There wasn't anything he hadn't already said to her to make her feel better, so he tugged her closer to him instead of speaking. It took her until he opened the door to the apparation point to wrap her arm around him in return. She'd apparently finally lost the battle of admitting she was afraid. He was just glad that she'd finally given in and let him comfort her. It was already too late for him to do more, of course, as they were on the verge of leaving.

Her grasp on him only tightened during the few seconds it took for them to teleport. By the time they landed she had his waist in a death grip. Sirius would have taken the time to make sure she was alright if he'd had the chance. As it was, a hostess had run forward to greet them. Normally Sirius would have completely disregarded any other person on the planet in favor of taking care of Alex, but the girl had stopped mid-step with a terrified gasp. Her mouth was hanging opened and her eyes were wide in surprised horror. The situation was delicate, and Sirius simply couldn't give her the chance to run off and inform the Ministry of his visit, now could he?

He subtly tightened his grip on Alex's waist in what little comfort he could offer as he turned cold eyes on the hostess, "I trust that I won't need to wait for a table?"

The Black family had permanent reservations at this restaurant, of course. As a matter of fact, there was always a table opened for them pretty much anywhere they wanted to go. Sirius wasn't entirely sure that the girl knew that. Not that it mattered, though, because obviously his status as a death eater, mass murderer, kidnapper, rapist, and Azkaban escapee made her think twice about telling him no.

She stuttered something that he didn't quite catch, then turned and practically ran out of the apparation room and into the main lobby. They took their sweet time following along behind her, acting all the world like they fully expected everyone to adhere to whatever pace they set. When they eventually reached the ornate desk in the lobby it was only to see the hostess whispering furiously to what appeared to be the manager. Sirius marched them right up to the two.

His icy stare did nothing to betray the fact that he _did_ actually have emotions. "I do not like to be kept waiting," he stated coolly.

"I'm...I'm terribly sorry, my lord..." the manager spoke nervously, "but the restaurant is closed tonight...There is a private party...The apparation point is closed down for the night...I...I don't know how you got in...You weren't sent an...an invitation..."

"Well, then is seems that we have a bit of a dilemma," Sirius's eyes narrowed dangerously, "since I **will** be eating here tonight."

The man's own eyes widened, "The entire building and all of the surrounding grounds have been rented for the night..."

"You've already said that," he informed the man with a malicious glare, "and I've already told you that I could not care less...You will either admit me to the party, or I will slaughter every single guest here so that there will no longer be anyone to rent the building to."

Both of the employees' faces were taken over by horrified expressions, and Sirius knew that they believed that he would really do it. Apparently they thought that anyone able to kill a dozen muggles and one admittedly weak wizard with a single curse was perfectly capable of killing a hundred or so fully trained wizards with as little effort. The man nodded vigorously, immediately pointing them in the direction of the double doors leading to the main dining room. Just as they began their journey towards the doors, Sirius's anger abated enough to let him become aware of an additional presence in the room. He had no idea how long the other people had been observing the scene between him and the manager, but it wouldn't do if anyone had seen him let the man get away with back talking him.

He quickly came to a decision, and stopped just before he opened the doors, calling back without turning around to look at the man, "Oh, and _sir_...**no one** questions me...Crucio." The fact that he had not visibly used either a wand or a hand would be sure to make as big an impression on the observers as the curse itself...and that wasn't even mentioning the fact that he hadn't even turned around to _aim_.

Alex's shock was quite apparent in his mind, but a soft pinch to her side clued her in to the fact that he didn't want her to say anything. The man's screams abated after a few long moments, when Sirius decided that it was safe to lift the curse. The soft murmur of voices that had been discernable from the dining room was no longer there. The noise from out front had obviously drowned out any conversations going on. Sirius knew that curious partygoers would appear through the door at any moment, and that would definitely ruin his entrance, so he threw them open himself.

He was met with the sight of dozens of faces in various degrees of shock. The uncomfortable silence only lasted for a few seconds before the crowd erupted into an uproar. The shouts were much more uncomfortable to Sirius, and his expression became even more cold as he tried not to look annoyed. He could still feel Alex's emotions (a mix of nerves, confusion, and disgust). Her face, however, was the perfect image of superiority. He watched out of the corner of his eye as she looked around, her nose wrinkling up ever so slightly and a look of derision coming across her face. Her act was so good that even he couldn't tell if it was actually an act or if it was real.

Finally, a single man managed to quiet down the crowd, and Sirius turned to face him as he pushed his way through the mass of people. They faced off in the center of the mob as everyone else closed in to form a circle around them. Sirius had energy gathered at his fingertips and a powerful curse on the tip of his tongue, but outwardly he didn't let any of his nerves show through. Instead he stared impassively at the wizard standing before him. His body was tall and gangly in a pubescent teenager sort of way, which his billowing dress robes couldn't conceal. Even his facial structure was thin, narrow, and completely disproportional to the rest of his form. If it wasn't for the age lines starting to form around his eyes and his hair beginning to gray, he might have been mistaken as being much younger than he actually was.

Sirius finally allowed some semblance of emotion to show through, and let his lip curl in distaste, "Nott."

"Black," the man responded with barely concealed derision (it _was_ to his favor that he at least _tried_ to conceal it).

"You will address me as _Lord_ Black," he glared in threat before continuing, "I see that you've gathered quite the..." Sirius looked around with a sneer, "..._following_...Pity, that..." he continued, his sneer deepening, "What _will_ the Dark Lord think?"

The already quiet room fell into a complete hush as Nott stared at him warily, "Our Lord will be proud that his most loyal followers haven't strayed from his path."

"You clearly underestimate my knowledge," Sirius's eyes took on a truly malicious glint, and Nott's eyes widened in apprehension. Sirius, however, knew that it was too early in the game to try and turn Nott's followers against him, and, instead of voicing his accusations out loud, he broke into the man's mind, "_Do you think that they would all stay behind you if they knew that you were funding your little political party with dirty money?...Don't think I don't **know** about your foray_ _into the dark alleys and sleazy back streets of muggle London._"

The man's expression turned aghast for a few brief seconds. He managed to regain control of himself in almost no time at all thanks to a life of being trained to keep his reactions in check, but even his extremely brief slip up hadn't escaped the notice of all of the other purebloods in the room. One didn't climb so high up the social ladder without being a wonderfully slippery son of a bitch, though, and Nott was no exception. He wasted no time in trying to work his way out of trouble, "It seems very odd that this is the first meeting I've ever known you to attend. Pray, why did you _finally_ decide to grace our party with your presence?"

Sirius silently acknowledged Nott's wonderful use of a diversion. Who cared about Nott's shortcomings when they had the opportunity to question Sirius Black? He never let the sneer leave his face as he answered, "I've only ever associated with the _best_ people. What incentive could I have ever possibly had to associate with _you_?" The crowd became visibly angry at that declaration, and Sirius forced out a chuckle as he glared around at them, "My point exactly...this is why none of you ever became anything worthwhile working for the Dark Lord...I've insulted you and you're furious, but none of you will do anything about it." Just to spite that statement, a curse shot out of the crowd, and Sirius reflected it back on the caster without a second thought, "...and those of you who _try_ are too weak to succeed."

It seemed that no one else was going to try to take action against the infamous Sirius Black. By the looks on their faces, he supposed that they'd finally decided that he was, indeed, a death eater. He led Alex towards a table. The crowd parted automatically, and he called back without turning around, "Come along, Nott. We have much to discuss." Nott reverted instantly into a groveling lapdog in the face of someone stronger than him, and followed along behind them.

Sirius kept his head high and his cold gaze fixed ahead as he walked. It would make everyone think less of him if it seemed like he felt the need to threaten them with dirty looks. The most logical place for him to sit was in the corner of the room so he could keep an eye on everyone else...but that would let everyone know that he was worried about an attack. Not one to let himself seem weak, he chose a table almost in the dead center of the room. As she sat down beside him, Alex positioned herself so that she was facing him with her knee pressed against his thigh. He caught her eyes briefly to let her know that she'd done exactly what he wanted by making sure that she had a clear view of all the people that were behind his back while he had a clear view of the ones behind hers.

Nott stood several feet away, obviously nervous to break propriety anymore than he already had since Sirius had already corrected him about the use of his title. Sirius lifted a hand and motioned for the man to have a seat. The same courtesy was _not_ extended to the three men who had followed Nott, but they didn't seem to notice that as they all moved to follow their leader.

"You obviously keep company with uncultured commoners, Nott," Sirius stopped the men with his comment.

Nott glared around at his followers in a clear sign of displeasure, apologizing as he did so, "Although they are purebloods, they have never had much opportunity to enjoy polite society."

Sirius was still looking for any way to prove that he was completely in control, and he waved a dismissive hand at the men, "I'll require food." All three gaped at the order. It was apparent to Sirius that they were all used to being close acquaintances with Nott and _not_ used to being ordered around. A glare was sufficient to make them warm up to the idea, though, and after they had left he turned dead eyes on Nott, "Not only do you associate with _filth_, but you also allow the _help_ to be privy to your conversations?"

Nott's lips very nearly curled into a snarl, "Not everyone can _afford_ to be picky."

Nott suddenly found himself in a great deal of pain. His eyes bulged and his mouth fell opened as he gasped for breath. Sirius, for his part, watched his struggle with an impassive expression that actually managed to _almost_ convey his boredom. The silent battle went on for quite some time before he finally decided that he'd made his point. Nott began to turn blue from lack of oxygen, and Sirius finally released him from the curse. It appeared that no one else had noticed exactly what was going on, and Sirius internally congratulated himself on managing to improvise such a curse.

He never lost his composure as he spoke just loud enough for Nott to hear, "If you can't keep a civil tongue then I would advise you to not speak at all."

"Yes, my lord," the man hissed out through clinched teeth.

"Now that we understand each other..." Sirius decided that he'd had enough of the preening and posturing and got to the point, "I would like to know exactly what led you to believe that you could ever lead the death eaters."

Nott glared at him, "I'm doing just fine. Everyone here is loyal."

"Oh, I've no doubt that they are loyal," Sirius made a point of staring around the room with a dismissive wave of his hand, "...to the idea of power. None of them cares a whit for the cause...Which leads me to look at you, Nott, and how far your loyalties have strayed."

"I was one of the Dark Lord's first supporters!" the man declared vehemently.

Sirius's intense gaze bored into the man, "Would you like me to congratulate you on your ability to recognize a good opportunity when you see one? You joined up because you wanted power and you thought you could get it through the Dark Lord..." He cut himself off as the men returned laden with food.

It occurred to him that he hadn't specified exactly what he wanted, and it was obvious to him that the men were afraid of angering him...They had loaded down plates with nearly every kind of food available. The men set platters upon platters on the table...after which they were motioned away with a wave of Sirius's hand. He tried a bit of everything while Alex picked at the very small amount of food she'd chosen for herself, earning her a disapproving look from him. Not that anyone besides her would notice the slight change in his eyes or the merest quirk of his eyebrow, but she recognized his mother hen look. She'd never enjoyed it when he nagged her, and, just to remind him of that, her heel dug into his foot (under the table and away from prying eyes, of course). He yanked his foot away from her reach, but the wince never reached his face to crack his perfect composure.

It would seem that Nott had noticed that _something _was going on, though, because he was looking between them curiously. It was unlikely that he'd noticed anything more than the glances they'd shared during the silence, but it was still too much for Sirius to be comfortable with anyone noticing. He spoke up to turn the attention back on the man himself, "Do you really think that the Dark Lord would want his followers separated and fighting amongst themselves? It seems much more likely that he would want his death eaters to continue in his footsteps instead of fighting each other."

Nott didn't bother to try to suppress his anger, "Malfoy is _not_ the Dark Lord's heir! He doesn't even care whether or not mudbloods are allowed into our world...just as long as he stays on top!"

"And you don't give a damn whether or not mudbloods are allowed into our world just as long as you finally get control over them," Sirius let his stare bore into the other man's eyes.

"Purebloods should have control!" he was livid.

Sirius smirked sardonically, "And who exactly will purebloods have control over if you get rid of mudbloods?" At Nott's sudden silence, Sirius's smirk became more pronounced, "Exactly...You don't give a damn about mudbloods. You just want someone to push around. That's hardly something worthy for a leader of death eaters."

Nott's retort (if he even _had_ one) was prevented by the arrival of several women of varying ages at their table. Sirius recognized many of them from school, and several more from his days of seducing others' wives. It would have been more than just rude to shoo away a gaggle of "harmless" women, so, despite Alex tensing up at the way they were ogling him, Sirius greeted them with a polite (if not altogether welcoming) bow of his head.

"_Lord_ Black," greeted a pretty brunette witch, whom Sirius recognized quite easily as Nott's wife, "It's been _far_ too long."

Her nasally voice was much less grating than that of the woman who spoke up right after her, "You haven't changed a bit, Sirius dear."

Alex turned fiercely flashing turquoise eyes on the woman who had addressed him so intimately, and Sirius rushed to diffuse the situation. "Mrs. Nott, Mrs. Carrows, ladies," he put an emphasis on greeting them formally, "I hope you are all having a lovely evening."

A consensus of "Yes, lovely" was murmured from every mouth, but the group quickly gave away their intentions as Mrs. Nott spoke up immediately after they had quieted down, "Who is _this_?"

Sirius protectively placed his arm on the back of Alex's chair. The group of vultures had made it glaringly obvious that they wanted to pick at _his_ lover, which was something that no one but _he_ got to do. Not _just_ because Alex had developed a nasty habit of killing those who tried to invade her personal space, but also because Sirius had claimed exclusive rights to her for over a decade and he had quite forgotten how to play nicely with others (if he'd ever known at all).

"Why don't you let her come sit with us?" another woman spoke up immediately after Nott's wife, "A nice chat with the girls is certainly more entertaining than _business_."

"Let her go," Nott agreed with his wife, "and we can discuss this issue openly."

He was on the verge of adamantly refusing their offer when Mrs. Carrows backed up her friends, "It's been so long since you have come to see us...and we've _never_ seen _her_..."

"...She _needs_ someone to take her under their wing," Mrs. Nott finished as she nodded along with the rest of the women.

Sirius knew that they didn't want to befriend Alex. They wanted to find out what they could by being nice to her, but after they grew bored of that game they would try to hurt her (by mentioning their pasts with him, no doubt), try to badger her into revealing something important, or harass her with questions about her heritage and her life with him. The women were more dangerous than the men in his opinion. They were the ones who gossiped, found out useful information, and informed their husbands, fathers, uncles, brothers, and cousins. Without them the men would never get around to doing anything. They were catty, manipulative, and vindictive...and he didn't want to expose Alex (who had never had to deal with people at all, much less that kind of people) to them.

She, however, had other ideas. She raised an eyebrow in his direction and, in her most sickeningly sweet tone, addressed him, "Yes, darling, _do_ let me go with them."

He clearly recognized the look in her eyes and the tone of her voice. She knew what they were about, and had no intention of playing nicely any more than he did. He gave in under her daring gaze and nodded slightly. She rose gracefully from her seat and, after a brief kiss to his lips, was ushered away by the group of "ladies".

Sirius watched her leave for a few seconds before turning back to Nott, "Let me tell you how things are going to be..."

--------------------

Alex quickly found herself surrounded by women. She wasn't at all used to being surrounded by _anyone_, much less by people who reeked of perfume, wine, and hair products. Her nose crinkled up ever so slightly as everyone formed a circle with her in the center. She looked around at the makeup caked faces encircling her as everyone studied her. She was on display...the center of attention as the wolves surveyed their prey.

Eventually, the woman that Alex perceived to be the leader spoke up, "Well, aren't you a pretty little thing?"

"What a gorgeous gown. You must tell us where you got it," added someone in the crowd.

"And absolutely _covered_ in jewels," chimed in the woman who had addressed Sirius by his first name, her tone hateful, "He treats you well for a captive."

Murmurs broke out amongst the crowd once the subject was brought up, and Mrs. Nott herself was the one who finally formed the question, "What _is_ life with him like?"

As opposed to all of the previous questions, which had been followed up with more questions before Alex had a chance to answer anything, all of the women were silent after this one was uttered. They all seemed to be holding their breath, just waiting for her to grace them with an answer.

Alex looked around contemptuously, "Why would you ever believe just utter nonsense as that? I am not, nor have I ever been, his captive."

"It's what everyone was saying!" replied the hateful woman.

"It isn't half so romantic if it isn't true," stated a voice within the mass of ladies.

Giggles went through the throng of women, and one person finally declared, "I daresay we all wished we had been the one who Sirius Black kidnapped...even if we did think he was a blood traitor at the time."

"Though it wouldn't have been rape if it had been one of us!" several snorts of laughter accompanied this declaration.

Alex was left staring at the women around her in something akin to surprise. Not that she let it _show_, but she felt it all the same. She could hardly grasp the concept that these women thought that she had been kidnaped and raped by Sirius Black...and that she had _enjoyed_ it. She brought a hand up to trail her fingers along her necklace as a bit of reassurance that it was _her_ who was wearing his family's heirlooms and that one of the harpies hadn't snatched it from her very neck.

The movement caught the attention of the hateful woman, who she seemed to remember as a Mrs. Carrows, and the woman's spiteful tone drew the interest of everyone else, "Merciful Zeus! Sirius didn't actually _marry_ you, did he?"

Alex's cold glare could have rivaled Sirius's any day, but her voice was still sickeningly sweet when she spoke, "I believe he specifically requested that his lessers refer to him by his proper title."

The woman gasped in outrage, and Alex could practically see her hackles rise, "_I _am the wife of an influential pureblood and important death eater...and _I _am a loyal follower of the Dark Lord myself..._I_ have shared Sirius Black's bed more times than anyone else here. Who exactly are _you_?!"

"I am the wife of Sirius Black and I pledge my allegiance to him and him alone," she retorted, making sure her voice was still so sugarcoated that it couldn't be called anything other than polite, and she cooed out a far too regretful sigh as she seemed to realize her mistake in saying something hurtful, "Oh, my dear _**Mrs.** _Carrows, I'm sure that I simply didn't think of your feelings when I said that. It must have been a tough potion for you to swallow that he left you alone to marry someone else, and here I am rubbing it in your face. You simply must accept my apologies if I hurt your feelings."

As the woman fumed, it was another who spoke up, "I'm sure I never heard of such a wedding!"

Alex smiled an obviously fake smile as she answered, "Oh, there was no need for a wedding. I have been magically accepted as his wife...and that's all that matters, isn't it? There are no divorces from magical bonds, after all."

Her statement hung thickly in the air, and it was Mrs. Nott who finally broke the silence on behalf of the woman who had insulted Lady Black, "I think it is you who simply must accept Victoria's apology...It has just come as a bit of a shock to us all, I think...and she was certainly very close with him."

It was that last jab at hurting her that finally persuaded Alex to believe that playtime was over. She let her icy gaze travel over the group surrounding her as she said, "I think it is high time that I get back to my husband. I'm sure his 'business' with Mr. Nott couldn't have lasted this long, and he does get ever so bored without anything sufficient to stimulate his interest."

A cloud of anger and dislike fell over the women at this last insult, but a murmur of farewells and well-wishes rose up nonetheless. It was a spur of the moment decision to request that Mrs. Carrow accompany her across the room, but not a bad one. They looped arms as if they were old friends, and Alex allowed herself a grip that was a thousand times tighter than was necessary. She knew that the woman was uncomfortable with both being with her in the first place and having her arm in a death grip.

Once they were well away from the throng of onlookers, Alex spoke loud enough to ensure that the woman could hear her, "You're not to go near Sirius again if you know what is good for you."

"Oh, and why not?" retorted the woman snidely, "Are you afraid that he'll come to his senses and leave you for me?"

"You would do well to remember that you're married," Alex informed the woman stonily, "I'm not afraid that he'll leave me for you. I'm simply warning you that his temper is extremely short and that he'll not put up with you hovering over him for long before he decides to get rid of you...and if he doesn't, I will."

The man himself stood from his chair as they approached. "I'm ready to go, Love," he informed her huskily, completely ignoring the other woman.

His comment reminded her of another point she had to argue with the heinous bitch beside her, "Oh, and Mrs. Carrows, I would think that over a decade is _quite_ enough time for _me_ to have shared his bed the most of anyone here."

Sirius quirked an eyebrow at both of them, but finally shrugged his shoulders in a sign that he was sure he didn't really want to know. He put an arm around Alex's waist and pulled her towards the door. The crowd parted for them just like it had when they'd arrived, and Alex turned her head to have a last look at the tightly huddled group of women. The crowd of brightly colored robes and glittering jewels certainly drew the attention of anyone who looked around the room, but Alex's eyes were drawn to a single woman. This woman wasn't a part of the crowd. In fact, it seemed that she was the only female who _wasn't_. Instead, she was standing with a group of men which included Nott himself. The entire group appeared to be deeply immersed in a serious conversation and the woman's face was hidden because she had her head tilted into the circle. The white-blonde gleam of her hair, however, was quite enough to identify her by.

Alex misstepped in her surprise, and only Sirius's arm kept her from stumbling outright. He turned to look at her curiously, and she didn't have time to tear her gaze away from Narcissa before he noticed her staring at something. She felt him tense up when he saw what – or rather _who_ – it was.

"_No!_" she protested silently, "_Don't cause an even **bigger** scene!_"

He paused, but only for a moment. With a last look at his cousin, he stalked out of the room, dragging Alex along with him.

"Did you have a productive evening?" she pressed him for information as soon as they entered the abandoned lobby.

He kept staring ahead, obviously upset about Narcissa, "Very."

She ignored his horrible mood and kept on pressing, "You took care of everything then?"

"Of course I did," he answered, looking at her in disbelief that she even had to ask. His gaze changed from annoyed to lustful when his eyes settled on her, though, "You look amazing."

"So you've already told me," she told him with a smile.

His eyes turned dark and stormy as he stared at her, and as soon as they entered the apparation room he slammed the door behind them. As he used his arm around her waist to spin her towards him so he could attack her mouth, Alex put her own arms around his neck. She only allowed it for a couple of seconds, though, before she pulled away, "Take me home, Lord Black."

--------------------

Sirius attacked Alex's mouth with his own the second his feet hit solid ground. She wasted no time before entwining her arms about his neck in return. He didn't break the kiss as he backed her into the nearest wall. She said nothing in protest of the treatment, and he took that as an invitation to continue. He moved his hand around from her perfect ass to caress her thigh before he grabbed a handful of her dress. He began to pull it upwards rather quickly in his haste to get her undressed, but she ripped her mouth away from his.

"Stop," she demanded levelly.

Sirius pulled back in shock, and couldn't help but ramble "Baby, I need you so bad...Dear Merlin, please tell me you're kidding."

Her face, however, was perfectly serious. He thought that he might be on the verge of keeling over and dying, but he didn't have too long to contemplate the possibility before Alex nuzzled into the hollow of his throat and teasingly pressed a kiss to his Adam's apple. "I need you, too," she assured him, "but I don't want you to shag me against the _wall_."

Normally Sirius would have figured her out immediately, but his thought processes were a bit off since all of his blood was decidedly _not_ being used in places as far north as his brain. He groaned helplessly as she nipped at his throat, "I'm going to explode if you don't let me shag you soon."

Alex laughed throatily at his blunt statement, but decided to spell it out for him. "Carry me upstairs, lover," she purred into his ear, "I want you to take me in our bed."

Her declaration ripped another groan from his throat, and he pulled away from her immediately. Alex immediately missed the heat of his body pressed against hers, but she knew that it wouldn't be for long as he grabbed her hand and literally dragged her out the door. They climbed the stairs and ran through the corridors in record time, and practically burst through their bedroom door. Alex was expecting it to be fast and rough since he'd been made to wait for so long, but she _wasn't_ expecting to be shoved onto the bed without warning. She landed with a gasp and bounced up from the force of the toss. She was still bouncing when Sirius threw himself onto the bed with her.

He crawled on top of her without preamble, licking his way up her neck before sweeping his tongue over her lips and claiming her mouth in a passionate kiss once more. He reverted to the method he'd abandoned earlier: grabbing a fistful of her dress and pulling it upwards. Alex's hands were still at her sides, where they'd landed when she'd been tossed into bed, but she quickly overcame her shock and moved to take off his jacket as he used his legs to force her thighs apart. She never got the chance to complete her task, however, because he was pressing into her in the next second. It would seem that he'd undone his own trousers sometime while she was too surprised to notice.

He was rough, as she'd known he would be. She would have been as enthusiastic as he was if he hadn't of stopped her from moving. His hands went to her legs, moving her in just the way he wanted. She hadn't a clue whether or not he'd done it on purpose, but by the time he was done she was rendered unable to do anything but take exactly what he wanted to give her. She was perfectly alright with that arrangement, though, because he was amazing at what he was doing. He certainly didn't need her help to make it good for either of them.

It was over rather more quickly than usual, of course, because of both their long anticipation and their furious pace. Alex's moans pitched up to a scream and she clutched at the lapels of his coat since she hadn't been able to form a coherent thought enough to move her hands anywhere else. Sirius let go seconds after her, as if he'd just been waiting for her to go first (which he probably had, if she cared to think about it). He collapsed with a hoarse groan, falling forward until his chest was against hers and his head was pillowed on her shoulder. He finally moved his hands from holding her in place, trailing his fingertips up her legs until he was caressing her thighs.

They lay in silence for long seconds...until Alex's arms began to fall asleep from Sirius's weight crushing them between their bodies. Her strength might have been fully returned after over a decade since being hurt, but she was still nowhere near strong enough to shove him off of her. Her quite feeble attempts to extricate her arms out from under him was enough to get his attention, however, and seemed to snap him out of his nearly comatose state.

He stopped caressing her thighs so that he could lift himself up on shaky arms to let her hands escape. "I'm sorry, Love," his voice was gruff and scratchy.

She moved her hands to their usual place in his hair and pulled his mouth to hers. He kissed her thoroughly, their mouths never breaking apart as he moved to lie on his side beside her. It was Alex who eventually broke the kiss, but that didn't deter Sirius at all. He simply leaned forwards a bit more to suck on her neck. She tilted her head to give him better access, and he nipped and lapped at her skin with abandon. After a few minutes of work, he leaned back to admire his own handiwork decorating her neck.

Alex turned her head to look into his eyes, "When I said that I wanted you to carry me to bed...that wasn't what I had in mind."

"I'm sorry," he repeated with a sheepish smile, "Let me make it up to you."

He didn't wait for her to either give or deny her permission. He raised up to his knees, using a hand on her shoulder to gently press her back down when she tried to follow him. He stared down at her disheveled form with interest. She was still wearing her dress, though it was bunched up around her hips, and both of her shoes were still firmly on her feet. He moved down the bed to remove her high heels first, massaging her feet after he threw the offending shoes over his shoulders. He worked his way up her legs, massaging her calves all the way up to her thighs. Just as Alex was beginning to really enjoy herself, his hands skimmed over her hips and gripped the edge of her dress.

Sirius moved his body up so that he could kiss her again as he pulled her dress up. He broke the kiss just long enough to pull the garment over her head, then their lips were pressed together once more. He did move down eventually, though, running his tongue over the mark he'd already put on her neck before moving down even further. His hands and mouth were everywhere on her, and she was sure that she'd died and gone to heaven when he finally moved where she wanted him. It didn't take long at all for him to give her what she wanted, and she unwrapped her legs from around his shoulders quite willingly as he moved back up her body to lie at her side again.

Alex only stayed still for a few seconds before she herself rose to her knees. Sirius was still fully dressed in his suit, tie and all. She loosened his tie slowly, leaning forward to kiss his neck as she was able to expose it. She grew bored all too soon, however, and stood from the bed, pulling him to the sit on the edge of the mattress as she went. It didn't take her long to push his jacket off of his shoulders, and she left him to free his own arms from the sleeves as she began to unbutton his shirt. She leaned down to kiss the exposed skin as each button was undone tantalizingly slowly. He was positively _squirming_ by the time the last one was unfastened and she was kissing along his waistline, but she pulled back with a teasing smile.

He opened his mouth to protest, but she had already kneeled on the floor in front of him and begun to untie his shoes. She pulled them off, along with his socks, and ran her fingertips gently up his legs. She completely ignored the one place where he wanted to be touched, of course, earning another groan from him. Eventually she decided to stop teasing him and moved her fingers into his waistband to pull the trousers down.

He was truly handsome...the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen. He was staring at her, his stormy eyes glazed over with lust. He grabbed her arms and pulled her up impatiently. Alex went willingly as she wanted to get close enough to his face to nibble on his pouting lower lip. Sirius didn't have to tell her what he wanted. She instinctively straddled his lap as his hands went to her hips and her arms went around him.

It was considerably more gentle this time. They moved together slowly and deliberately, murmuring words of love and devotion to one another. Alex wrapped her arms around his chest, her hands kneading into his back with every move that was made. She rested her head against his, her face buried in his hair as he kissed along her collar bone.

They held each other like that as long as they could, but both of them were too wired to make it last forever. With a gasp and a moan, they collapsed into each other. They fell backwards onto the bed, and Sirius quickly turned them so that he was on top. He moved to nuzzle into her chest before finally settling for using it as a pillow.

Alex's mind was racing. First with thoughts of pleasure, then with admiration for the form on top of her, and finally her post coital lethargy was interrupted with thoughts of the night's other events. She was curious to know what had been said between Sirius and Nott after she'd left, but, as Sirius finally got comfortable enough to settle down, she decided against saying anything right then. Business could wait until the next morning. For the rest of the night, she just wanted to enjoy his presence and feel his weight pressing down on her.


	39. Missives and Failures

A/N: This is mostly just reactions from after the party, with just a bit of action thrown in at the end...I feel that someone might kill me by the end, but the next one should be up in the next day or two! It's mostly written, and I know I'm a horrible person for cutting it off where I did, but I didn't want to make you wait any longer for it so I decided to split it up into two chapters!

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Alex had become aware that Sirius was in a horrible mood almost as soon as she spent more than two consecutive seconds with him. They'd been woken up by a panicking house elf that didn't know what to do about the dozens upon dozens of owls that were invading the house bearing well wishes from people who'd been at the restaurant the night before. He'd stalked into their sitting room, several house elves with armfuls of mail trailing after him, and had thrown himself nearly gracelessly into the first chair he'd encountered. She had taken up a position on the couch and had waited for him to talk to her, but he was being absolutely impossible. Alex had eventually come to the conclusion that it was best to completely ignore him until he decided that being a complete jackass wasn't his best option. With that thought, she'd walked into her dressing room to dress for the day, not bothering to spare the petulant asshole another moment of her notice.

Five minutes later she returned to the sitting room only to find her sulking lover in much the same position as he had been when she'd left him there, his head bent over another of the missives. She could tell from the scowl on his face and by the way his eyes were scanning the words so rapidly that he wasn't pleased by what he was reading. She watched silently as his rage grew, until finally he lost control of his temper. Black energy erupted from his skin, effectively incinerating the parchment in his hands. He stared at the remaining ashes in his lap with an even deeper scowl than before.

Presently, his feelings got the best of him, and he couldn't help but speak, "Well, just fuck it all!"

"What?" Alex sighed as she finally gave in and indulged him.

"...'_I must say having __**one**__ Black made me feel secure enough in our victory, especially since your wonderful cousin is Malfoy's wife herself'..." _he read from the letter in his hand, which he'd quickly repaired from the ashes, "...'_Having __**two**__ of you, though, is such an honor that I cannot even hope to convey it with words, and having the __**head**__ of the Black family at the head of our cause makes us unstoppable.'..._What the **fuck** is Narcissa thinking? It's all well and good if she wants to defy that mass of hair gel and designer robes that she calls a husband, but to do it _openly_...How could she be so bloody stupid! Lucius is certain to find out, and he'll kill her when he does!"

Well, what could she possibly say to him that would make it all better? Instead of trying to comfort him about his cousin's impending doom, she changed the subject slightly, "And what of the second part? Aren't you the least bit concerned that everyone thinks you're going to lead the resistance against Malfoy? I thought the point was to destroy them, not for them to make you their chief."

He was obviously not over his reaction to Narcissa's stupidity, but he allowed the subject to be changed, "Well, what better way to break them down than by leading them? It's easier to lead a person to their end because they trust you than to drag them kicking and screaming because they know you're going to kill them...But it's all so fucking stupid!"

"What's stupid, my love?" she kept her tone soft and sweet to keep him as calm as it was possible to keep him when he was having a fit.

"This!" he exclaimed, "I'm sick of it all already and it's only been a day! I'm sick of running from people I used to call my friends! I'm sick of playing nicely with people I used to call my enemies!"

Alex moved to crawl into his lap. She settled into place straddling his legs and wrapped her arms around his neck. The magical energy surrounding him lapped at her skin in what could only be described as affectionately, as if it had a mind of its own. "I know, Sirius," she stroked his hair as she spoke, "You don't deserve any of this. You've saved more innocent people from being tortured or killed or both than most of the other members of that Order combined, and this is what they give you in return. No trial, no chance to explain yourself...It isn't fair at all...and now you're saving them yet again by associating with the filth we met last night. They haven't a bloody clue that, if it wasn't for their most wanted criminal, their peace would soon be torn apart by two groups of death eaters feuding over who Voldemort's heir is. The fact is that neither of us can change it right now, so I don't want you to work yourself into a rage over it. It won't do any good to brood over something that can't be helped."

He sat unmoving under her, but the fury in his voice was evident when he spoke, "What would you have me do, then? Be _happy_? There's **nothing** to make me happy!"

She abruptly removed her arms from him and sat back to glare at him angrily, "No, I suppose it _would_ be terribly impossible for you to be happy with me, wouldn't it? You can never just be happy that we have each other! That's impossible! Have you been hiding this from me for ten years? Have you really been letting this build up and build up until you finally couldn't help but tell me that I don't have what it takes to make you happy?"

"That's not what I meant," he replied sullenly.

"No?" she asked, "Isn't that what you said? That there's nothing to make you happy? Surely you can't be happy with me if you're so fucking pitiful all the time!"

Sirius groaned and put his head in his hands, "Alex, I **love** you. Being with you in and of itself makes me impossibly happy, but then I start thinking about everything I've taken away from you. I can't be happy with the fact that I can't give you anything other than shadows and dreams of being free! I can only offer you my own company or that of the plebeians from last night. I can't give you any of the children you want so badly. I can't even walk out in broad daylight with you as myself unless it's in seedy, death eater infested restaurants or even seedier muggle neighborhoods!"

Alex regarded him in silent shock for a few moments before she finally managed to speak, "I'm the one who agreed to come with you. It was my decision to stay with you instead of taking the chance I had at rejoining society. I don't regret it for even a second, darling. I never have...And, to be fair, _I'm_ the one who can't give _you_ children."

"Yes, but it's _my_ fault, isn't it?" he asked morosely.

"It isn't," she wound her arms back around his neck as she laid her head against his shoulder, "It's my own fault...I should have known...I should have felt it...What kind of horrible mother was I that I didn't even _**know**_ my own child existed even when the evidence was so obvious that a wood elf would have tripped over it!"

Sirius wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her even closer against him, "You were seventeen, Love. You weren't expecting to wind up pregnant. You can't blame yourself for not noticing something you didn't even think of as being possible. You'd hardly had enough experience to have let the thought cross your mind at all, much less under the circumstances."

Alex couldn't help but laugh, "Well, you _have_ to admit that we're both at fault for not thinking of it as being possible. You just threw me down in the grass with nary a thought or a contraceptive spell."

"I'm hearing a lot of blame in that declaration," he chuckled along with her, "Well, **I** wasn't alone! It takes two people to make a baby!"

"Oh, please!" Alex snorted at him, "I was scared half to death! I didn't have any clue at all what to do...and _you_ didn't even give me a warning! I couldn't have stopped you if I'd wanted to!"

Sirius stared at her with a suddenly lust-filled gaze. "_Did_ you want to stop me?" he asked huskily.

Alex was once again impressed at how quickly their bad moods and arguments could turn into something else entirely. It had been like this with them ever since the last _real_ argument they'd had years and years ago. One second they would be cursing each other to eternal torment in the deepest pits of the worst form of Hell anyone had ever dreamt up, and the next second they would be proclaiming each other gods. She managed to shake her head negatively in answer to his question, but couldn't form a word for all of her want. Words weren't really needed, though...They both wanted comfort from their past demons, and they both knew how to get it.

--------------------

Consciousness came abruptly...and rather rudely in Alex's opinion. One moment she was dreaming about the feel of Sirius near her...against her, on her, in her...and the next she was staring into the wary face of one of the ugliest house elves she'd ever seen, and Sirius was nowhere near her as far as she could tell. It was the second time in a single day that she'd been awoken by a house elf, and she was starting to associate it with there being a problem.

She sat up quickly, the sheet lying forgotten around her waist, "What is it?"

"N.n...nn...no..nothing, My Lady," the unfortunate creature managed to stutter out after quite a few false starts and mid-message pauses.

Alex used the time it took for the elf to speak to take stock of her surroundings. She was in the center of their enormous bed..._alone_. Sirius was indeed nowhere to be seen anywhere in the room. He would have to be made to feel sorry for this.

She glared irritably at the elf, "_Nothing_? You'd _better_ have a reason for entering my bedroom uninvited."

Although she'd started out feeling sorry for the house elves, she'd soon modified her feelings into ones of distaste and impatience. It didn't take very much time living with the unending begging, sniveling, and self-appointed punishments for her last nerve to be shredded to pieces. The house elf let out a shriek and cringed, but didn't _dare_ try to get away as Alex's hand flew towards it, presumably to strike it for its latest failure. In fact, her hand flew mere inches past its face to pluck Sirius's discarded shirt from the floor – there was no need to go prancing around the servants completely naked. She buttoned a few buttons to keep her body haphazardly covered before she stood from the bed with her hands placed firmly on her hips and an expecting look planted firmly on her face.

"I is sent by Master!" it used its explanation as a plea for mercy: it was well-known that the first and last elf to displease the lady had received a brutal lashing just before Master had given it one of the gloves he'd been wearing and, _literally_, kicked it out the front door.

Alex, who was completely unaware of the fate of the only house elf to ever question her authority as Mistress, rolled her eyes at the hurried declaration, "Are you going to tell me _why_? Or did he send you here for no reason at all?"

The elf's words weren't nearly as stilted or nervous now that it seemed Mistress wasn't going to have him whipped and set free, but he still stuttered just a bit as he explained, "I is supposed to tell Mistress that Master is being in his study all this morning."

Alex didn't wait to dismiss the elf before she ran out the door. She padded through the marble halls as quickly as possible, the freezing cold floor beneath her feet a far distant reason from her desire to see her lover...and hear him and smell him and touch him and taste him...

She reached the double doors to his office in record time, and didn't bother to knock before she entered. Rows of bookshelves framed the enormous desk at one end of the room, and, therefore, framed Sirius as he sat at it diligently writing a letter. He neither looked up nor spoke when she entered the room, but she wasn't deterred. Alex walked behind the desk and up behind him without invitation and didn't hesitate as she placed her hands on his shoulders.

"You're too tense, my love," she informed him as she kneaded his shoulders.

He worked on the letter for several more seconds before he signed it with flourish and laid down his quill. "You make it better," he leaned his head back on the back of the chair to stare up at her, "Just let me finish up."

She bent down to catch his lips, the experience feeling distinctly different than usual since he was facing her upside down. She had a perfect view down his bare chest, and she was reluctant to close her eyes because of that. She couldn't resist for long, though, when the knew position let his tongue explore her mouth in ways it had never done before. It was only when he lifted his arms so he could knead at her breasts (which also felt odd for him to be doing upside down) that she realized he had a perfect view down her shirt. She placed a teasing peck on his chin as she pulled back, "Well, hurry then."

"I'm almost done," he assured her as he lifted his head off the back of his chair and reached for the quill again,"I just have one more thing to do."

"What exactly _are_ you doing?" she asked curiously.

Without a word, he used his unoccupied hand to pick up his recently completed letter and another missive and handed them backwards over his shoulder. She took them with interest:

_Lord Black,_

_I must say that it was an honor to see you at our meeting. Even though I didn't have the opportunity to speak with you personally, I hope it is not too forward of me to express my sincerest support of your leadership. I will tell you – in the strictest confidence, of course – that I have my doubts that we would have ever been able to accomplish anything with Nott at the helm. I offer my services in whatever way you may need. Perhaps we can set up a private meeting to discuss your plans for the future?_

_Your humble servant, _

_Amycus Carrow _

_Carrow,_

_You must be one of the biggest fools I've come across in a long while. I hope you didn't truly believe that your scheme would work. Don't presume to be anywhere near my level. In fact, maybe you should consider gaining a bit more control over your whore of a wife before you attempt to take on any larger endeavors? Perhaps the information enclosed with this letter will be a lesson to you: don't fuck with me._

_Best wishes for your future success, _

_Lord Sirius Arcturus Black _

Alex raised her eyes from Sirius's letter to stare at the back of his head. A quick glance at his desk revealed a large, precariously balanced stack of missives from what must be every person in attendance at the party. She knew that he'd been receiving them nonstop, but he hadn't responded so violently to any of them before this one...Well he _had_ responded violently, but just to the information in the letters and not against the senders themselves.

"What did he do to get such a reaction out of you?" she asked him curiously.

"There are tracking charms attached to his letter," Sirius replied matter-of-factly, "Lucky for him that it doesn't matter who knows where I am since they can't get in anyway. Otherwise I would kill him and everyone he's been in private contact with since the night of the party...Give them back, will you?"

She leaned forward to wrap her arms around his neck and dropped the pieces of parchment onto the desk, "And what retaliation have you taken?"

"I've decided that it's high time to call in the debts owed to me," a malicious grin spread over his face, "He'll be financially ruined at the very least and be thrown into debtors prison if his status hasn't changed dramatically since the last time I looked into it."

Alex perked up at that bit of information, "Is this the husband of Victoria Carrow, by any chance?"

Sirius, who was well versed in Alex's violent dislike of that particular woman, couldn't help but let out a laugh, "Yes, Love."

"Good," she grinned herself, "Will she be thrown into prison as well?"

"I could arrange it if you'd like," he replied seriously.

He closed the package rather brazenly by putting his family's crest into the seal, and then stood from his chair. The movement dislodged her from his shoulders, but he quickly made up for it by spinning around, putting his hands on her waist, and pulling her towards him for a kiss. Her head tilted back and her lips parted automatically as she melted into him. His hands encircled her waist and his thumbs rubbed patterns on her stomach and around her bellybutton, but the kiss never came. Alex opened her eyes to ask what his problem was, but stopped short as she caught sight of him. He was staring at her intently, his head cocked to the side and his eyes roaming over her hungrily.

His voice was husky as he spoke, "I love it when you're evil."

"I think I could manage to have a few more women thrown into prison if you like it so much," she smiled brightly up at him.

"I love it that you don't mind that I'm a horrible person," he continued with a sigh, "Even if everyone else wants me dead."

Alex leaned further into him, "You aren't horrible...Now kiss me." He pressed his lips to hers, but refused to open them even when she swept her tongue along his mouth in a clear plea for him to do so. She finally bit down on his lips to demand that he cooperate, but he still persisted in teasing her. "I take it back. You're a bad, evil man and I don't know how I can live with myself living with you," she pouted to tempt him, "Now kiss me like you mean it."

Sirius Black couldn't just obediently press his mouth to hers. Instead, he had her slammed against the wall before she had time to react. He used his thigh between her legs to hold her up so that both of their hands were free to roam as his opened mouth fiercely assaulted hers. He took advantage of the freedom of his hands to touch her anywhere and everywhere. She, quite predictably, let her fingers tangle in the lush mane of his hair. He pulled away before their snogging was allowed to go any further, though, and Alex was left panting and writhing against his thigh in what she knew was a completely wanton and shameless plea for him not to stop.

He groaned and stepped away from her temptation, setting her gently on her feet as he went, "I was supposed to be in town ten minutes ago."

She refused to relinquish her grip on him since it was the only thing supporting her on her shaky knees, "Give me fifteen minutes of your time and you'll still have time to make it a nice round thirty minutes late..."

"No, we won't have time," he declared reluctantly, "I want you to come with me and it'll take you another thirty minutes to get ready anyway."

"I'm completely naked under this shirt and you're turning me down?" she raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

Sirius clenched his teeth, a muscle in his jaw twitching quite noticeably, "_Please_ don't make me miss this meeting."

She considered his expression for a few moments before she smiled gently and reached out to caress the side of his face. At this moment in time, he was _completely_ at her mercy. If she asked him to stay he would cancel his plans for the entire day without much more argument than he'd already put up. Alex wasn't ignorant of his responsibilities, though, and she wouldn't keep him from whatever important business he had scheduled.

"Give me ten minutes, darling," she placed her palm against his chest to feel the accelerated rate of his heart, "and I'll go with you. You can make it up to me later."

--------------------

True to her word, Alex had met him in the apparation room, fully dressed, in less than ten minutes. The problem was that he'd wanted nothing more than to march her right back up the stairs the second he caught sight her. He knew that he was being punished for making her wait – as if he wasn't already cursing himself for it – and, damn it all, it was _working_. He felt that offering himself up as a sexual sacrifice and bending over a desk for Severus Snape would have been far less painful than having to look at Alex all day with the knowledge that he'd passed up the opportunity to bend _her_ over _his_ desk. She'd made sure that he would feel _really_ sorry, too, by apparating them both away from home before he had time to properly react.

He was caught staring as she glanced over at him. "Something wrong, Sirius?" her tone was sickeningly sweet.

He barely heard her words for all the attention he was paying to the movement of her shag-me red lips, which were arranged in a shag-me pout; but he did manage to choke out a strangled, "No!"

"Are you _sure_?" she breathed out, and the tone of her voice alone was enough to make his pants suddenly feel ten sizes too small. He knew that his stare was entirely too intense, but she only raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at his expression. To make matters worse, he was uncomfortably aware of the fact that he wasn't the only one staring at her.

"I'm sure of at least _one_ thing," he growled out as he attempted to send a frigid glare to every single man (and boy) who was watching her as she walked down the sidewalk, "If I wasn't here you'd have been dragged into a dark alley by now, and that scrap of fabric you call a skirt wouldn't do any good at all if it was shoved up another inch or two."

"I'm hardly helpless, darling," she patted his arm soothingly, "Besides, maybe that's the point."

Another man backed down under the intensity of Sirius Black's glare, "The point is to get assaulted in a dark alley?"

"No, the point is to make you _want_ to assault me in a dark alley...but not to let you, of course," she pulled his head down so she could whisper in his ear, "Want to know something else?...I'm not wearing anything underneath the skirt."

Sirius came to a screeching halt in the middle of the sidewalk. Alex kept walking, but not without sending him a smoldering look over her shoulder. He had to stifle a groan as she sashayed away from him. It was only the roaming eyes of every male on the street that made Sirius realize that he'd make better use of himself by shielding her from eyes that weren't his. He caught up with her in four long strides, and wrapped his arm around her possessively. He let his hand rest on her ass to see if she was telling the truth...She was.

He let out a growl as she let her hand snake around him and slide into his back pocket in retaliation, "Are you trying to kill me?"

"_No!_ I would never kill you..." she exclaimed melodramatically, leaning in closer to him as if she was about to reveal a dire secret, "...because then I'd never get you to shag me!" She let out a giggle as his jaw dropped open in surprise, and gave his ass a rather rough squeeze right before she jumped away so he couldn't get revenge.

Sirius couldn't help but stare at her for a second, but promptly wiped the gobsmacked expression off of his face in favor of an expressionless demeanor. He marched right up to her, grabbed her arm, and leaned down until his breath was caressing the side of her face. She froze for a second, obviously unsure whether or not this reaction was genuine, and he hissed into her ear, "_Witch_!"

Her body relaxed immediately at his declaration, and she leaned up to whisper into his ear in return, "Only for you."

He pulled back and stared at her with stormy eyes full of lust and love. She reached out to smooth a few nonexistent wrinkles from his shirt, more for the excuse to touch him than for anything else. He grabbed her hand in his and lifted it up to his mouth, placing a kiss on her knuckles before turning it over and kissing her palm.

"Come on, Love," his voice sounded ragged even to his own ears, "We're almost there...and the sooner we get there the sooner we can leave."

She had a wicked grin on her face as they started walking again, "I noticed that you don't seem to be wearing any underwear yourself...Think how convenient that is. We could just slip off somewhere...and with nothing more than undoing a zipper..."

"_Alex_!" she was making it hard for him to _not_ drag her into a dark alley, the staring eyes of everyone on the street be damned, "Do you really _want_ to have nothing but the grimy bricks at your back or the filthy ground beneath you?...and with every single eye watching where we'd disappeared to?"

"No...I was thinking more along the lines of the filthy ground being beneath _your_ back," she grinned up at him.

He couldn't stop the growl from erupting from deep in his chest, "I swear, woman, that you're going to _get it_ when we get home!"

"Promises, promises," her grin widened.

He shot her a very stern look (as stern as he could manage under the circumstances, anyway), "Behave when we're in there, will you? Rip doesn't need anymore encouragement to hound me."

"You do realize that you neglected to mention his involvement in all of this when you pitched your idea to me?" she turned a suddenly serious expression onto him.

"Because I was just trying to get your support at that point, and I know that you don't really care about him," he lowered his voice to make sure he wasn't overheard, "He isn't as important to me as Draco or Harry, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to abandon him if I don't have to."

Alex looked over at him curiously, "I hadn't realized that you cared about him at all."

"He was my closest friend outside of the Marauders," Sirius quieted as he spoke of the past, "He would have been a best friend if I could have told him about magic...I was getting deeper and deeper into the assassinations and farther and farther away from the Marauders. I didn't want them to know why I was so different, so I ran to the muggle world to avoid them, you see. Then Lily got pregnant and I was afraid that James wouldn't be able to overrule her opinion of me...that she wouldn't want me around their baby. You saw how nervous she was around me the one time you met them...I had to do something to prove that I deserved their respect, so I decided to become an auror. I left the muggle world, Rip included, in all of one night and I never looked back. I feel kind of bad about it now, though, because it never really crossed my mind that I was abandoning my friend...I don't want to do that again if I can help it."

Alex, who had been watching him seriously throughout his entire speech, smiled just a bit as she spoke, "I'm not used to you having feelings for people who aren't me, Draco, or Harry. Should I be jealous?"

His bark-like laugh filled the narrow street, "No, Love. It's just that over a decade cut off from everything you've ever known tends to help you rearrange your priorities a bit. I don't want to lose anymore people."

Alex's next comment was cut short as Sirius cursed loudly as they went around the corner. He took off at a run down the sidewalk and skidded at top speed through the door of the pub...or rather, the hole where the door used to be. The door itself was lying on the floor where it had been knocked down. The interior of the bar wasn't in wonderful shape, either: all of the bottles and glasses had been shattered and the drinks they'd contained had flooded the floor, the furniture had been torn to pieces, and the pictures had been removed from the walls to make room for spray painted skulls and other lovely emblems. The body of the bartender was splayed out grotesquely on the bar, also covered in spilt alcohol and spray paint.

Sirius took all of it in within seconds, never slowing his pace towards the door into the back of the building, which had been left opened. The walls of the narrow hallway were devoid of any kind of vandalism, which obviously meant that the culprits had been in a hurry to do something else. Rip's bedroom door was wide opened – he could tell all the way from the other end of the corridor – and he knew in that moment that his friend had been violated and made into as much of a mockery as the bartender. He slowed down then, a heavy feeling entering his chest that he hadn't feltsince he'd thought Narcissa was dead on Draco's bedroom floor so many years ago. He didn't want to look into that room, didn't want to see Rip's body as obscenely on display as the other man's...but his feet kept moving nonetheless, propelling him forward almost against his own will...He had to _know_, to _see_ for himself what they'd done to the vibrant man he'd sworn to save.

The body was in an odd position on the bed. He'd been lying on his stomach and had obviously gone to sit up when he'd been killed. His body had crumpled back onto the mattress, his arms crushed under his chest and his head turned in an unnatural way. There was blood...so much blood...pooled around that head, matted in the dark curls, and sprayed across the sheets.

He'd failed yet _another_ of his friends.

Sirius wanted to look away. He wanted to back away and back out the door and back down the sidewalk and all the way back to this morning before he'd ever had to see this. He was about to do just that, too, when the door slammed closed behind him.

"You've come back for me, have you?" the voice was strained and laced with madness.

Sirius spun around, only to come face to face with a muggle gun. He stared down the barrel of the thing, his mind numbing and his entire body going cold. He wondered if he could perform the disarming spell quick enough to get rid of the promise of death that was inches away from his face. He wondered if a bullet to the brain would work much the same way as a beheading. He wondered if it would hurt, if he would feel it entering his head through skin and bone and brain before his immortality gave out and he succumbed to death. He wondered for the first time in his entire life what came after death. Was it to be nothingness or eternal sleep and dreams or maybe some form of Hell for all his bad deeds? He wondered if Alex would burst through the door only to be met with the sight of his lifeless body, and if she would be able to live without him...because he knew he would never be able to live without her. Would she kill his killer before she joined him in death, or would she be so shocked at the sight of his bleeding form on the floor that she would be shot because of her distraction, too? All of this he wondered in a split second, but his mind refused to quiet...

He wondered who was going to take his life. After being able to avoid all of the most powerful witches and wizards magic had to offer, who was this muggle that was going to kill Sirius Black once and for all? In the last seconds of his life, he wanted to look into the eyes of his killer and see if the same madness existed there that he knew filled his own stormy eyes. He let his gaze shift from the gun – from the thing that was going to cause his death – to the person that was going to pull the trigger...and his thoughts froze much as his body had.

"_Oh my God_!" was all he could think...unexpected last thoughts for a man who had forsaken any form of God or prayer long ago.

--------------------

A/N: Give me a couple of days for the next chapter...But it might go quicker if you review, because reviews are like Red Bulls for writers.


	40. Never Leave Me

A/N: Sorry it took more than just a day or two like I'd originally planned. My boyfriend surprised me by taking me away to the Caribbean...because he said I was too stressed out and I was getting on his nerves...and that he either had to de-stress me, knock me upside the head, or slam his own head in the car door a couple of times before he could talk to me. You can say "hot damn, he's perfect!" with me if you like. Anyways, even if I _wasn't_ completely romanced and feeling particularly eager to pay him back (and I **totally** wanted to pay him back...because _**hot damn!**_ He _**IS**_ perfect!)...he isn't the kind of man you just ignore to say "sorry, baby...not right now...I need to write..."...but I'm finished bragging now so I can get back to the story...

So I'm coming to you right now from my gorgeous ocean view balcony after a day at the spa (apparently I'm _not_ finished bragging)...while I'm waiting for him to get out of the shower and get ready for dinner (okay, seriously, I'm done.) I won't even try to tell you how difficult it's been to write this while I'm in such a good mood...so I'm hoping I was able to bring the mood from last chapter into this one.

Chapter Forty

The unmistakable sound – even for a wizard – of the gun being cocked managed to break Sirius out of the dumbfounded stare he was aiming at the muggle. The man's deep brown eyes were wild and glazed over with madness, and Sirius knew that the man wasn't really seeing the person he was about to kill...which really sucked for him.

Only a few seconds had passed since the door had slammed behind him, and Sirius knew that those few seconds of shock he had allowed himself to have might very well be the thing that got him killed. He watched in terror as the man's finger started to squeeze the trigger. He may have abnormally fast reflexes, but he sure as hell wasn't fast enough to disarm the man before his finger pressed the trigger the rest of the way down.

He finally managed to force his mouth opened, "Ri..."

But it was too late. The words died in his throat as the bang of the door hitting the wall filled the small room, they were both startled into looking over, and the gun went off a split second later. Just as the explosion shocked Sirius into silence once again, it managed to jolt the muggle back into reality. Time slowed down even further. The brown eyes suddenly widened in horror as he stared at Sirius, and Sirius himself only just managed to follow the man's gaze down to his own chest before the pain hit him. He opened his mouth to say something...anything...to groan, to say that he was alright, to say the man's name, to scream from the pain...but all that he managed to do was cough. The blood from his cough joined the blood from the hole in his chest that was already pooling on his shirt.

Just as Sirius was sliding to the floor, a white blur knocked the man off of his feet. Sirius gasped for air as the floor rushed up to meet him, and the temptation to succumb to the darkness filling in the edges of his vision was almost too much to handle. He knew he couldn't pass out, though, because he couldn't let Alex kill his attacker. And he knew that's what she was about to do: tear the man into tiny little pieces.

The pain of breathing was already threatening to throw him into unconsciousness and the pain to speak was almost _unbearable_, but he forced out the words anyway, "Al..ex...don't...k...ill...hi...him."

She didn't question him. She didn't ask _why_ he wanted the man to live. She was just suddenly there, leaning over him and stroking his hair. He wanted to speak to her, to reassure her, but he couldn't dredge up enough energy to talk again. He felt one of her hands lightly trailing over his chest, and he groaned involuntarily at the pain. All that managed to do was produce more blood.

"Siri...Sirius," she choked on her tears as he choked on the blood, "I don't know what to do. God, you can't leave me...Just stay awake, love..."

He _wanted_ to stay awake, but his field of vision was getting narrower and narrower. It hurt to breathe. Merlin, it all hurt. _Everything_ hurt. Curses were fleeting pains: temporary tortures that were gone as soon as they were lifted. This was worse. This wasn't going away. He couldn't get away from it. Dear _Merlin_ he'd changed his mind: he _wanted_ to sleep. He found himself unable to do anything but beg for the darkness to take him and put him out of his misery.

Alex's form was blurry as she leaned over him, sobbing and begging him to stay awake. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, but the sweet temptation of unconsciousness was too much to resist. He finally gave in and let his eyelids droop. He was so close to not feeling anything at all...to getting away from the pain...

Something collided with the side of his face – hard. His first instinct was to strike back against whoever had hit him...but when he went to do it he remembered why he'd let himself fall asleep in the first place. If it was possible, the pain was worse the second time around.

He came fully awake at the second punch.

"Stay with me, Sirius," Rip was hovering over him now, the glare from the lights casting a hazy glow around him, "My God, don't die. I'm sorry...I'm _so_ sorry...You can't croak on me...Think of the gorgeous blonde you'd be leaving behind."

Alex...where was Alex? Rip was alive so she hadn't killed him...yet. In answer to his mental question, she lifted his head off the floor to let him rest in her lap. She was still crying, her whole body shaking with sobs. He wanted desperately to reassure her, but, as before, he could only manage to cough instead of speak. He realized belatedly that he'd gotten blood on Alex's shirt and covered her skirt with it.

As he finally calmed back down, Rip's voice filtered through the pain again, "We've got to get help. We're just lucky that you slammed the door and made me jump, otherwise it would have got him in the head..." Alex's answer was somewhere between a gasp and a sob, "We have to get him to a hospital..."

"_No!_" Sirius finally managed to choke out, "Dra...co..." more blood accompanied his words, but he pressed on, "Pomfrey..."

"Don't try to talk!" Rip tried to stop him as the words brought on another coughing fit.

Alex, at least, understood the importance of his words. Her tear-filled gaze met his, and, as glazed over with pain and only half-conscious as his eyes were, she managed to decipher the message he was trying to give her. She let her fingertips ghost along his face as if committing his features to memory one last time.

Her tears dripped onto his own face as she leaned down to press her forehead to his, "I love you, Sirius Black. Don't you _**dare**_give up!"

She gingerly removed his head from her lap and stood, Rip's voice following after her as she began to hurry away, "Where are you going!"

She paused just long enough to answer him, her voice clearly displaying the utter hatred she felt for him at that moment, "I'm going to get a healer, and you're going to stay here and keep him awake...If he dies I will make _your _death so horrific that you'll beg me to just let you die _years_ before I ever get anywhere _close_ to finished making you pay for what you did to him."

Only Sirius's desperate gasps for air managed to break off the staring contest between his girl and his friend. Rip turned his attention back to the choking man on the floor. Alex, after watching anxiously to make sure that the kneeling man was capable of soothing her lover, teleported away. When Rip looked back up, she'd disappeared without a trace.

--------------------

House elves came out of the woodwork and congregated around her with enthusiastic offers for any service they thought she might need. She ran through them without a second thought, shoving them out of her way and knocking some off of their feet without stopping to care. The crowd had thinned into nothing by the time she reached the top of the grand staircase. She continued her mad dash through the manor as fast as her legs would carry her, reaching the bedroom in record time.

Stepping through the door was like stepping into a portal to memories of Sirius. She was frozen in the doorway for a few seconds, her eyes roaming over everything: he'd told her he loved her in this room, soothed her fears in this room, comforted her in this room, _made love_ to her in this room...And now he was bleeding to death and in pain on the floor in a dirty, dingy muggle pub.

The image of her proud, beautiful lover lying broken on the floor managed to snap her out of her frozen state. She surged forward again, practically flying over the bed to reach the table on her side of it. She almost ripped the drawer out of the table as she yanked it open, but she didn't stop to contemplate destroying the priceless antique before she reached in to get what she needed.

Her hands trembled violently as she held the mirror up to her face, and her voice trembled just as noticeably as she spoke into it, "Draco Malfoy."

It was a tense wait for him to appear. When his face finally showed up in the mirror, he was clearly disheveled and more than a little upset, "Alex? What's wrong? I had to ask Professor Snape to let me out of class when you called me! I almost got caught and now Professor Snape is sure to..."

"_Draco_..." her heartbroken whisper did what any amount of yelling could never do and shut the boy up.

He stared at her with wide eyes for a moment before he found his voice again, "Alex? What is it?"

"Go to Madam Pomfrey and tell her to meet me outside the castle gates with her bag," she didn't have time to explain it to him fully right that second, "Tell her it's an emergency."

He gaped at her, "...but, you can't let someone see you and you can't get close to Hogwarts and..."

"**Do it now!**" she hissed at the boy, "**I don't have time to listen to a child tell me what I can and cannot do!**"

Draco's shocked and hurt expression made her realize that she had overreacted even more quickly than she normally would have realized it. She didn't have time to apologize, though, as he nodded his head once and disappeared, the pained expression on his face staying firmly in place. She wondered briefly if he would forgive her once she had time to tell him the entire story. She didn't worry long, though, because thoughts of Sirius forced her to shove Draco to the very back of her mind.

--------------------

In retrospect, Hogsmeade might not have been the best location for meeting the mediwitch. However, Alex was desperate to get the woman to Sirius as soon as possible. If that meant risking exposure to that bastard Dumbledore then it was worth it. _Anything_ was worth it. She would have marched right into the headmaster's office if she'd thought it would help Sirius even a little bit, memories and bad blood be damned.

As it stood, there was really no need to flaunt herself in front of her enemies right that very moment. She stayed hidden amongst the first few trees of the forbidden forest, one eye watching the Hogwarts gates and the other eye watching her back. It really would have been no trouble at all to spot her if anyone (or any_thing_) had bothered to look. She just couldn't stay still. If she stood still then she couldn't keep the blinding rage from her mind. She had to keep moving – to pace and mutter to herself and take deep calming breaths – or the blinding energy that she was _just_ managing to keep at bay would split her in half in all of its rage. It would tear the world apart until someone made Sirius better, and she would gladly give herself over to that fury if she gave herself the smallest chance to do it. And so, she kept moving and kept her mind racing on any other thought but that one.

All of her thoughts returned to Sirius anyway. How could she ever manage to think about something else when she had left him bleeding, in pain, and only barely conscious? She hadn't stopped crying. She'd burst through the door only to see his _friend_ – a man he'd just told her a few seconds before had used to be one of his closest friends – holding him at gunpoint. All of her senses except for her sight had blanked out, and even that had only been capable of looking at Rip. She'd tackled him to the floor before she'd realized it. She'd banged his head against the hard floor and done her best to hurt him.

And then she'd heard the words.

They'd said her name, and that had gotten her attention. She hadn't recognized the voice, though, so she'd turned around to see who could possibly know her name.

It was Sirius...and all she could do was stare at him in shock. She hadn't recognized his voice. How could she not have recognized that voice? The very same voice that had teased her and whispered to her and even yelled at her over the years...and she hadn't recognized it. She felt like she had betrayed him. Hadn't he always recognized her no matter how pained her voice was or how horrible she looked?...She felt like she had betrayed him even more when she realized that he'd called out to her and she'd just been staring at him.

She was across the room and by his side as fast as she could possibly make the trip. Only she didn't know what to do once she was there. He was wheezing and gasping for breath and staring straight ahead without blinking. She was afraid to touch him, afraid to hurt him even more. She'd eventually just gone for what she was familiar with. She couldn't hurt him by stroking his hair, right? He relaxed a little at her touch, and she gave into the temptation to check out his injuries. She knew it would hurt him, of course, but she had to know exactly what she was dealing with if she was going to formulate some kind of plan to help him.

He'd groaned and coughed up blood at her touch, and she'd completely broken down. He was giving up. He was going to sleep even though she was begging him not to. She'd known that if he closed his eyes he would never open them again. She'd _pleaded_ with him, but he'd still given up. It'd been Rip that had finally made sure Sirius stayed awake. She'd completely forgotten about the man as she was leaning over her lover. She would forgive him for the bruises the punches were sure to leave on Sirius's perfect face, though, because those punches had been the only thing that kept him from going to sleep. She would _never_ forgive Rip for hurting him in the first place, though. Only the fact that he had apologized over and over and over again and begged Sirius to live had saved him from being killed as soon as he brought attention back onto himself.

And if Madam Pomfrey didn't get to Sirius in time, Rip would still die. Not the quick death she'd been prepared to give him in the beginning, either. Oh, _**no**_...he would suffer for as long as she could keep him alive. It would take her months to go through the list of tortures she was formulating in her head, and, if he was still alive when she was finished, she would start all over. Only when Sirius had been avenged would she go to join him in death, but she would do it eventually. There was no way she was going to live without him. So what if she had no idea what the afterlife had in store for them? If it was peace they would share it together, and if it was Hell...Well, if it was Hell then at least she would be there with Sirius. Being with_**out**_ him was worse than any form of Hell anyone had ever dreamed up.

She shook the thoughts from her head as a figure appeared in the road in front of the towering gates. It didn't matter...Madam Pomfrey would save Sirius just like she had saved Alex herself. Then Sirius could decide for himself how he was going to handle the traitorous, lecherous scum of a man he'd once called a friend.

She was in such a hurry that she didn't even stop to make sure the mediwitch hadn't been followed before she rushed out to meet her. Madam Pomfrey caught sight of her as she stepped from the trees, and her gaze roamed in supreme disapproval over her hooker boots to her micromini to her skintight, cleavage accentuating shirt...all picked out for the sole purpose of showing Sirius what he'd passed up. Alex had never thought the supremely strict mediwitch would see her like this. The woman's disapproving look promptly disappeared as her eyes finally reached Alex's face just as they got close enough to speak. Apparently the still-flowing tears led the woman to believe that it really _was_ an emergency.

"Merlin's beard!" she dropped her bag to the ground to place supportive hands on Alex's trembling shoulders, "I had imagined it would be Mr. Black here to drag me off...no doubt to heal another grievous injury of yours..."

"Sirius is...hurt..." she choked out the word, but it wasn't right. The false words in her own ears suddenly snapped Alex's strength back into play, though there were still tears and her tiny frame was still being shaken by the sobs, "He's _**dying**_, Madam Pomfrey. He's lying on the ground with a hole in his chest and coughing up blood every time he tries to talk or groan or _breathe_..."

The mediwitch's mouth was slack with disbelief by the time Alex finally choked on a sob as the image assaulted her mind again. "Come, come," she picked up her back and grabbed Alex's hand in one move, and started hauling the smaller woman towards the point where they could apparate, "We've already wasted enough time chitchatting. Tell me what happened."

"A gun," Alex was somehow strengthened by allowing the other woman to lead her, "He was shot with a muggle gun."

The healer opened her mouth to speak again, but was cut off by another voice, "Poppy!"

They both spun around at once, but it was Madam Pomfrey who managed to speak, "Minerva! What are you doing here!"

"What are _you_ doing here?" the woman retaliated, but it was then that she got a good look at the healer's companion, "_Poppy_! What _is_ this? She's..._his_...accomplice."

The mediwitch opened her mouth to speak, but Alex gave a determined tug on her hand and managed to yank her the last several feet before they were beyond the Hogsmeade border. Madam Pomfrey's plea for Professor McGonagall's silence was cut short as Alex apparated them away. She didn't have time to worry about nosy Professors. Sirius was holding on by a thread, waiting for her to rescue him.

--------------------

Alex didn't have any amount of confidence in other peoples' reactions. She trusted her own instincts and she trusted Sirius's instincts and even Draco had blossomed and begun to be damned intuitive under Sirius's tutelage. There was no way to refute Madam Pomfrey's gasp of horror, though. She apparently felt the exact same way that Alex did about the whole situation. Sirius Black was strong, proud, gorgeous, and more than a little full of himself. His place was **not** flat on his back, and _especially_ not on a dirty floor.

Madam Pomfrey wasted no time in shoving Rip out of her way in her rush to tend her patient. She'd already stunned him and magically removed his shirt before her knees even hit the floor.

Rip landed flat on his ass and stared at her in shock, "Who the hell is she!"

Alex shoved him back down onto the floor again as she jumped to the mediwitch's side, "_She's_ going to heal him, and _you're_ going to shut the fuck up before I kill you."

"I really didn't mean to do this," he dropped his voice to a low murmur, "I loved Sirius like a brother once, you know...I was just scared...and I was out of my mind. All I knew was that someone had come back for me, and I panicked and attacked."

"I really don't care," Alex turned to glare at him with cold, emotionless eyes that showed him exactly how little killing him would affect her, "When he's healed he can decide for himself what to do about you...If he dies I'll torture you until _you_ die, no matter how long it takes for you to do it."

There was pain and remorse in those chocolate brown eyes, but Alex couldn't have cared less.

Madam Pomfrey broke up their little chat, "I need to lift him up and look at his back...and I think that you're probably more adequate at levitation charms than I am, Alex."

They both turn to stare at her, and Rip raised his eyebrows dramatically, "Levita..."

Alex cast the charm and lifted Sirius up just enough for Madam Pomfrey to duck down and glance at his back. The mediwitch uttered the foulest curse that Alex had ever heard come from her mouth, before turning to look at her with serious eyes, "There's no exit wound. The bullet is still inside of him...We'll need to su..."

"**Holy shit!**" Rip was gaping like a fish at Sirius's body, which was still floating several inches off the floor.

The hiss that erupted from Alex wasn't something she could stop, "_Quiet!_"

"As I was saying," Madam Pomfrey spoke into the uncomfortable silence that ensued, "we'll need to summon the bullet out of him...I'm sure you're much better than I am at anything not directly related to healing, but I don't know if you're up to the challenge since it's someone that you love...It could be catastrophic if your hand shakes."

Alex thought she might start crying again. She wanted to give Sirius the very best chance she could, of course, but which choice _was_ the very best chance? She could do it herself, but what if the violent trembling started up again? Madam Pomfrey could do it to make sure that no shaking was involved, but she wasn't _nearly_ as good at the spell as Alex was so what if she slipped and made the wound worse? Sirius would have known what to do. He always knew how to take care of _her_. Why couldn't she take care of him? What was wrong with her that she couldn't find the proper way to save him? He was always so strong for her...she should be so strong for him the one time that he really needed strength from her.

She took a deep breath, "I can do it."

"Are you sure?" the woman looked skeptical.

"I can do anything at all to save him," Alex's decision was final, "I'm capable of whatever he needs...just as he could do anything for me."

The two women were in agreement after that, and Alex put her hand over his chest cautiously to make sure that she'd mastered her movements...

"What the fuck _are_ you?" Rip knocked her away from Sirius, "Don't you touch him, you...you...I don't even know _what_ you are!...**Don't touch him**!"

Alex spun around and had her hand wrapped around the man's throat before she stopped to think about what she was doing. Rip's tirade stopped immediately as his air supply was abruptly cut off. His own hand came up to claw at Alex's, and the shock was evident on his face when he couldn't budge the tiny woman.

Alex slammed his head back against the floor and dug her fingernails into his skin enough to draw blood, "If you make one more sound I'll cut out your tongue!" She wouldn't _really_, of course...there would be too much blood involved. She _would_ put a nice Silencing Charm on him, though, and that would be enough to freak out the muggle.

He stared at her with wide eyes, his face beginning to turn a bright purple from lack of oxygen, and Madam Pomfrey laid a hand on her shoulder, "We're running out of time, dear."

She slammed Rip's head back against the floor and dug her nails in deeper one last time to drive her point home, then she turned back to Sirius. He was turning paler by the second, and his breath was shallow and more than a little irregular by now. Alex put her hands into position once more, and this time there were no interruptions as she carefully summoned the bullet out of his body. She managed to keep her hands steady right up until the bullet was floating above Sirius's chest. Suddenly she couldn't help it anymore, and she let the metal drop as her entire body started trembling.

It was mind-boggling that she ran the risk of losing Sirius because of a tiny piece of metal.

Madam Pomfrey didn't even look over as Alex let herself fall backwards onto the floor. The mediwitch was more worried about Sirius's life than Alex's tears, and rightly so. She attacked his wound with a variety of salves and spells without another pause. By the time Alex had finally managed to calm herself down again, Madam Pomfrey was wiping away the excess blood from his skin.

"We need to wake him," the woman declared solemnly, "I need to get a few potions down his throat, and it's hard to force it when they're particularly foul to swallow." She glanced over to make sure that Alex understood, and then cast the spell to wake him.

Alex immediately understood why Madam Pomfrey had taken the time to inform her of the necessity of waking Sirius up. He hadn't even fully opened his eyes before he groaned in agony. If she hadn't known that it was necessary, she would have freaked out and demanded that he be stunned again to keep him out of pain.

Madam Pomfrey leaned over him, "I know it hurts, dear, but I need you to stay awake for me. You need to drink a few potions, and I swear that you'll feel better when you're finished."

He tried to respond, but only managed a low moan as Alex lifted his head up to help him swallow the potions easier, "Don't try to talk, Sirius."

Madam Pomfrey lifted the first potion to his mouth: Draught of Peace to help him calm down. It was obvious that it was needed as she poured Murtlap Essence directly into the hole in his chest until the yellow liquid spilled out onto his skin. He yelled out in pain, clearly panicked despite the Draught of Peace, and it took every trick Alex could think of to calm him down again as she stroked his hair and whispered to him soothingly. It was worth it, though, as the hole sealed up before her very eyes.

"This one isn't going to be very pleasant, either, I'm afraid," Madam Pomfrey declared as she lifted the steaming potion to Sirius's lips. He gagged and spluttered as he struggled to swallow it, and the healer stroked his hand in sympathy, "I'm sorry, dear, but your sternum was damaged and that's not something we can just let go, now is it?" After he'd finally managed to gain control of his gag reflex again, the mediwitch offered him yet another potion, "It's blood-replenishing potion."

Blood-replenishing potion wasn't anywhere near as foul as Skele-Gro, and he managed to get it down quite easily. The calm after the final potion was administered wasn't really doing any good in soothing Alex's frayed nerves. Sirius was breathing normally again, but his body was still tense in pain from the Skele-Gro. Madam Pomfrey was diligently monitoring his every move and reaction, and Alex found herself unable to stop the soothing strokes and whispers she'd started up earlier.

It might have been merely minutes or long hours for all Alex knew, but finally Sirius's hand reached up to grasp hers where it was stroking his face, "I'm fine, Love. All better now."

His voice was gruff and raspy, but at least he didn't cough up anymore blood after speaking. He sat up with another groan, and Alex moved quickly to wrap an arm around his back in support. It was apparent that he was back to his old self when he looked down at himself with a nasty scowl – the very one he'd been famous for in school and that Draco had obviously inherited from him. He cast several different Scouring Charms (as he obviously wanted to make _sure_ that he was clean) and finally just opted to incinerate his blood-stained shirt, which had ended up folded neatly at his side when Madam Pomfrey had charmed it off of his body.

"_Oh my God_," three heads swivelled around to stare at the man they'd all forgotten, "Are you really okay?"

Alex growled at him, her rage at the man transporting her into a realm of feral-ness that she hadn't achieved since her escape from Saint Mungo's. Sirius placed a restraining hand on her arm as he answered for himself, "I'm not sure 'okay' is the right word to use...but you didn't manage to kill me, at least."

Rip was clearly repentant as he begged Sirius to understand, "I didn't even know it was you. I never would have hurt you on purpose! You've got to believe me!...I just...I came back and found the place like this...and then I was getting ready to run and someone came in...and I thought that whoever it was had come back for me, to finish the job...and I panicked, and I don't even really remember any of it all that well...and then all of a sudden I was looking at you and you had a bullet hole in your chest..."

"I get it, Rip. Really I do," Alex's hiss clearly showed her displeasure that no one was going to be tearing the man into bite-sized pieces for the various creatures roaming around the mansion, but Sirius continued anyway, "Who was he?"

Alex had no clue whom he was talking about, and neither, apparently, did Madam Pomfrey. The women shared a confused glance before turning back to Sirius for an explanation. He was looking up at something, and they both followed his gaze curiously. Alex froze, but Madam Pomfrey's scream made up for her lack of reaction. How had they not noticed a bloody _body_ on the bed? Well, she already knew the answer to that question: they'd both been focused solely on Sirius...But, still...how had they _not_ noticed a _body_ on the bed?

Rip's eyes were determinedly focused on anything except the bed, "A friend...and a lover...He was..." the man took a deep breath to calm himself, "my boyfriend, I guess...I just ran out to the drugstore on the corner to get some things, and I came back and..." the rest of his explanation was cut short by the first sobs Alex had seen from him throughout the entire ordeal.

"He has the same hair..." Sirius sighed, "I thought he was you..." He trailed off with another sigh.

Everything was silent for a time, except for Rip's crying, but Madam Pomfrey finally spoke up, "We can't just sit here. Aside from the..._unpleasantness_...of this location, Minerva saw me leave with Alex. She'll have told Albus by now, and soon enough they'll trace us and this place will be swarming with aurors."

Sirius stood shakily, his body still weak from his injury, the loss of blood, and the pain of the Skele-Gro doing its job. Alex jumped to her feet to help him, wrapping an arm around his waist in support. They wobbled for a few seconds, her strength almost not enough to make up for the horrible leverage their height difference afforded. Suddenly, though, Rip was at Sirius's other side and they were on solid footing again. Another hiss erupted from her throat at the man's closeness. She didn't like the way his arm was rubbing against hers as he wrapped it around Sirius's waist, and she **especially** didn't like the fact that he was near her lover _at all_. She was overruled, though, by the imploring look Sirius shot her.

Sirius stiffened momentarily as Madam Pomfrey gingerly wrapped her arms around his neck, since he wasn't used to such attention from anyone but Alex, but he relaxed and used one arm to hug her back soon enough.

"You two really need to stop putting yourselves in these kinds of situations," the mediwitch remarked half seriously.

"I can safely say that we don't enjoy it anymore than you do," he informed her as they broke apart.

Alex allowed the woman to hug her next, her gratitude far outweighing her distaste for being touched, "Will you please tell Draco that everything is alright?...and that we'll get in touch with him soon?"

"Oh course, dear," Madam Pomfrey assured her as she pulled away, "You two at least _try_ to stay out of trouble!" With that, she disappeared with a resounding crack.

Rip's squawk of disbelief made Sirius sigh, "Well, so much for not telling you about magic. I guess you'll just have to come home with us until we can figure out what to do with you."

Alex let her displeasure with _that_ idea be known by glaring at Sirius as if he hadn't been seriously injured just minutes before. He managed to ignore her just long enough to dig a galleon out of his pocket and charm it into a portkey, since he wasn't strong enough to travel himself and Alex was likely to purposefully splinch Rip somewhere over the mansion's grounds so he would get eaten by one of their "pets." Luckily, Alex only attempted to shove Rip away from the portkey once, and Sirius was able to stop her in time for the man to grab hold of it again before it went into effect...but _just_ before. No sooner had he grabbed hold of the galleon again than the tug at their bellybuttons yanked them into space. Rip screamed the entire way, and when they landed the man was too distraught to land on his feet. As a result, Sirius's full weight fell onto Alex and they both tumbled to the floor, too.

Alex hissed something decidedly unkind about worthless, traitorous muggles, and Sirius knew that he wasn't going to have any fun keeping the two of them apart.

--------------------

Usually Sirius couldn't stay in bed to save his life. The entire staff at Hogwarts, as well as all of his friends, had always been run ragged when he was sick. He found that he really didn't have any trouble this time, though. Maybe it was that he barely had the energy to lift a finger, or maybe it was the fact that Alex was curled around him, but either way he just didn't have it in him to fidget or put up a fight about resting.

There were plenty of things that needed to be done after he felt better – like making sure that Alex hadn't ordered the house elves to starve Rip to death when she'd had them lock him in his room – but for now, he found that he couldn't worry about anything further than just lying there.

--------------------

He didn't know how long he'd slept before he was woken by movement beside him. He cracked open an eye to watch Alex's bum sway enticingly in front of his face as she leaned over the side of the bed. He was contemplating whether or not he had enough energy to finish was he would start by grabbing her ass when she sat up and took away the temptation.

"Draco Malfoy," she spoke clearly into the mirror she was clutching in her hand like a prize.

They both watched the mirror in suspense, but nothing happened. Minutes went by without Draco answering the call.

Alex sighed, "How could I have been so mean to him!..."

Sirius cut off her mumbles in curiosity, "When were you mean to him?"

She spun around in surprise, "Sirius! Why didn't you say you were awake?"

"Because you were calling Draco," he replied as he stretched out his sore muscles, "Why didn't he answer?"

Her lower lip trembled, "Because I was worried about you and he argued with me when I told him to get Madam Pomfrey and I yelled at him and it hurt his feelings and he left before I could apologize and now he's probably mad at me and he'll never speak to me again and I..."

"_Love," _he interrupted her, "I'm sure he'll come around once he knows _why_ you were so short with him."

"I'm going to write him a letter since he won't answer my call," she didn't even acknowledge his words, "Maybe he'll at least open it before he tosses it into the fireplace."

Sirius plopped back down onto the pillows with a sigh. He was too weak to argue with her, and there was really no point in trying anyway. Of course, there was no point in arguing with Draco either. If Alex had hurt his feelings then he wasn't going to want anything to do with her until he'd had time to cool off. And Sirius knew that it was going to take more than a single day for him to cool off.

Sirius knew that the boy was _way_ more like him than anyone was comfortable with. Madam Pomfrey had told him in one of her (rather rare) letters that pretty much every member of the staff had noticed that Draco's mannerisms were nearly identical to his own. She'd said that Dumbledore kept a rather more close eye on him than was strictly necessary, and that McGonagall often found herself reaching out to him and being a tiny bit more lenient than she was with the other Slytherins who caused trouble on a regular basis. Madam Pomfrey had said that Draco's trouble making reminded everyone of Sirius's own pranks, rivalries, and fights.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Alex bounded across the bed. She reached over him to grab a quill from the bedside table, and he wrapped his arms around her before she could escape again. She submitted without much of a fight, relaxing into his embrace as he softly kissed her neck. She repositioned herself so that they were mouth to mouth, and they were quickly engaged in a passionate kiss.

All of the fears that they'd both felt came out with that kiss, and soon they were clinging to one another. Her grip on him was hard enough that it would have broken the bones of another man, and he knew that his grip on her probably wasn't any more forgiving, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. He'd almost _left_ her. He clung to her like a lifeline because he'd almost let himself give in and left her alone. How could he live with himself knowing what he'd almost done?

His face was wet, and it took him a second to realize that Alex's tears were dripping onto his own cheeks as they kissed. She pulled away for breath after a while, and he cradled her to him like a child, stroking her back and cooing nonsense into her ear to calm her down. She buried her face in his neck as he rocked her back and forth.

"I love you," she whispered into his throat, "I love you. I love you. I love you."

He buried his face in her hair, "I love you, too. I love you so much."

She lifted her head to stare into his eyes, "Promise that you'll never leave me."

"I swear," he didn't care that the promise was almost impossible to keep, he wasn't going to break it ever again, "I swear to Merlin and all things magical that I'll never leave you."

Her mouth crashed down on his, and black energy connected with her crackling white energy as their lips connected. The magic zoomed around them with a life of its own as their kiss deepened. Sirius suddenly found that he had more energy than he'd thought. As he rolled them over, Alex's legs came up to wrap around his hips and the energy around them reached a crescendo. Through it all, they clung to each other as if their very lives depended on it. They needed each other like they needed oxygen or water or magic. Letting go just wasn't an option.

--------------------

A/N: Late but hopefully worth the wait...but I do have a wonderful excuse. Since I wrote the author's note at the beginning of this chapter...I've been proposed to!(_**squeal!!!**_)! I was way too caught up in that to worry about the story, obviously. Anyway, I'm getting used to the weight of a ring on my finger, and it isn't going to affect the story anymore than those first few days when I was way too excited to sit down and write anything.

Please review! It was only the reviews I got for the last chapter that made me suck it up and write the rest of this one...even though I was really too excited to want to sit down for that long.


	41. Mad Hatters' Tea Party

A/N: First of all, I haven't abandoned this story or anything. Promise. I just needed to take a little break...My fiancé has the worst timing EVER...How dare he make me the happiest I've ever been just when I have a few genuinely difficult chapters to write?!...It makes it all hard to write them...Plus we had to fly to Baltimore to tell my father about our engagement, then Birmingham to tell my mother, then San Francisco to tell his family...and, before I knew it, it was time for _Deathly Hallows_ to come out. I realized that it might be a good idea to start writing my next chapter, but it's been kind of hectic between congratulations on the engagement and getting ready for the next term at school. Most of you are really understanding about the time it takes to update, because you realize that I don't _have_ to update at all if I don't want to. I take time out of my life to do it! Some people, though...

Anyway, I know_** I**_ forgot all about this until I looked it up for this chapter, so I figured I'd remind everyone else, too:

Rufus Scrimgeour was the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement from (presumably) right after Barty Crouch, Sr., was removed until 1996, when he was made Minister of Magic.

Barnabas Cuffe is the editor of the _Daily Prophet_.

Chapter Forty-One

Alex fingered the pendant hanging between her breasts. The heavy weight around her neck was a wonderful reminder of the rather high amount of protection she was under. Tracing the shape of the "S" with her fingertips was a much needed comfort. She'd had several courageous moments over the years where she'd managed to convince herself that she didn't need the curse's protection anymore. She sometimes let herself believe that she'd overcome her own nature: that she _wouldn't_ feel the need to kill anyone who gave her even the briefest of touches. Her latest bout of foolishness had ended when Rip's arm had rubbed against hers the whole time they were supporting Sirius's weight between them. She'd scrubbed her arm until it was raw and then replaced her cursed pendant so neither he nor anyone else could ever touch her again.

Yes, Alex had a nasty habit of letting herself forget that she was teetering on the edge of insanity...if she hadn't already tumbled off it. It was an easy thing to forget when Sirius spent so much of his time telling her how wonderful she was. He was entirely too convincing. She knew, though, that she was unstable at best.

It's easy to believe that _knowing_ you are insane would help you overcome it, but that just wasn't true for her. She knew logically that most of the people she came in contact with from day to day didn't want to hurt her. That didn't stop her reactions. The first thing she did when she saw a person was to think of how that person might harm her...the pain they might be capable of causing. The next step in the process was thinking up the best way of killing the person...just in case. Alex was pretty sure that it wasn't normal to have a mental list of the best way to kill every person she'd ever met. She was paranoid and she was scared of her own shadow. Every time she saw a woman with dirty blonde hair she had to fight the urge to run away: the woman at St. Mungo's had had dirty blonde hair. Every man had the face of that healer, every woman the face of that nurse.

It was just as well, then, that Sirius was equally as insane as she was, though in a different way. The line in his mind between friend and foe was crooked and smudged. He had clear friends: a list of "his people", the people he cared about. He didn't distinguish between not-friends and enemies. If you weren't his friend, he didn't care if you lived or died. He would never go after an innocent person for no reason...but if a person got in his way he no longer considered them innocent no matter what the circumstances actually entailed. If he'd been bad before, the betrayal and abandonment to Azkaban had wreaked havoc on his ability to care about people. Of everyone on Earth, he loved her, of that she was certain, and he loved Draco. He loved the _idea_ of Harry, though he didn't actually know the boy to love him for real. The rest of the world was expendable to him. Oh, he cared well enough about various cousins and Madam Pomfrey and a few select others, but he wouldn't risk his own life for them. He extended that protection to only three people.

Her pendant kept her safe. It was a part of him always with her. They couldn't touch her when she had it. No one could touch her except for Sirius, Draco, and Madam Pomfrey. She glanced down at the bruising left from her attack on her arm after Rip had touched her. She felt contaminated now, and she glared across the table malevolently.

Rip was staring back at her. She squeezed the pendant tighter in her fist, until she felt the diamonds cutting into her skin. The scum had almost taken Sirius away from her despite everything. She'd managed to successfully avoid him the entire time they'd been back at the manor...mostly by way of having the house elves lock him in his room – the smallest and most out of the way room in the entire manor. Sirius was out of bed now, though, and he'd insisted that the man be let out. Not only that, but now he wanted the muggle to join them for dinner! She wondered if the house elves would poison him if she asked...or if Sirius had already given them specific instructions not to.

"Could the two of you _possibly_ not glare at each other all evening?" Sirius's exasperated voice cut through the thick silence.

Rip's eyes left hers as he stared down at his plate, "I'm not the one staring at her like she's a nasty bug I want to squash!"

"Interesting idea, traitor," Alex said in a would-be-pleasant voice, "Perhaps you would like to put more ideas for your eventual death into my head?"

"Alex..." Sirius started sternly...

...Only to be interrupted by her malevolent glare being redirected in his direction, "You can't make me like him! If I want to spend my time plotting his demise then **I will**__ It makes me feel ever so much better."

"He didn't mean to, Love," Sirius attempted to explain it to her for the thousandth time, "He was in shock. It's like watching everything that's going on from outside your body. You really have no idea what's going on, and by the time you figure it out you can't stop it."

"I suppose I'm meant to just _forget_ about you writhing on the floor with a big gaping hole in your chest, covering me with your blood," her tone was neutrally conversational, "Or how about how it would have been a big gaping hole in your _head_ if I hadn't made him jump when I had."

The man in question sat silently observing the tablecloth while Sirius threw down his fork, "God dammit, Alex! Do you even know what it's like?! I've been through the same thing he has! Do you really think that I had the slightest _clue_ what was going on around me after Peter blew up that street? Do you think I would have let them take me if I did? For fuck's sake, do you think I would have _laughed_?!" He answered her glare with one of his own, his almost black eyes flashing, "Besides, you can't tell me that you were really all that aware of your surroundings when you were in St. Mungo's! Can you really remember what happened, or what the people looked like, or your..."

He stopped abruptly as every bit of glass in the room shattered. It was then that he seemed to realize exactly what he'd said, and he stared at her with an expression of utter horror that she couldn't remember ever seeing him wear. She supposed that she looked even more horrified than he did, since she'd felt the blood drain from her face some seconds ago. Her chest suddenly felt tight and she couldn't draw in enough breath to make it stop hurting. She was freezing all of a sudden, and her skin felt clammy.

"Love..."

His voice was too much. She couldn't stay in this room anymore...Not with him and with the reason of his betrayal.

"_Love_?" her voice sounded weak to her own ears, "You think that you can talk to me like that...that you can...can use that day to _hurt_ me...and...you...You _**dare**_ to tell me that you _**love**_ me?"

"I'm so sor..."

The ancient wooden table literally shook when the force of her emotions hit it, and she closed her eyes in an attempt to calm herself, "You're _sorry_?...Do you think that I **care**?! That you can just _take it back_?" Alex's legs were barely able to hold her up as she finally rose from her seat, "He almost _killed_ you, and you _hurt me_ for him!"

"No! Love, I..."

"**I told you not to call me that!**" she really couldn't handle it right now...couldn't handle him. She turned to look at Rip, who was watching the scene with wide-eyed terror, "Do you still have feelings for him, muggle? You can have him if you want him. A set of traitors should understand one another perfectly...and neither of you will ever be surprised to find a knife in your back."

She had no idea where she was going to go, she just knew that she was. She couldn't stand being under the same roof as Sirius Black and Rip Whatever-the-hell-his-last-name-was for one second longer. They could go shag each other for all she cared.

--------------------

Alex didn't know where to go. Everywhere she went held memories of Sirius: the spring, Diagon Alley, pretty much every major European city. She'd never realized before that her life revolved around him so much. She didn't even have a single place to call her own.

She was sure that she was wearing a permanent glare. She was just barely managing to keep the furious energy under her skin from bursting out. At least it kept her from crying.

She just couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that Sirius had chosen Rip over her. She could hardly stand to _think_ of the man without getting the urge to kill something. She didn't want that man anywhere near her. Sirius seemed to have forgotten about lying on the floor with a bullet in his chest, but she sure as hell hadn't forgotten it. It was fine, though, if Sirius would rather support Rip than her. If he would rather have Rip around, then that's what he would get.

Alex plopped down heavily on a bench. She was in a sprawling park in..._some_ overpopulated city or other. There were people everywhere around her...talking and laughing and walking together. She was the only person who was completely alone. She scowled at a young couple that walked by her: she looked _much_ better on Sirius's arm than that harpy looked on that man's arm. Even if Sirius _was_ a prick.

It was a rather harassed and ragged-looking woman with a gaggle of running, giggling, screaming kids and a pram loaded down with toys, drinks, and snacks that finally made Alex's eyes fill with tears. She'd managed not to think about it for _so_ long. Now that Sirius had all but thrown the issue in her face, though, she couldn't _stop_ thinking about it. In about another month would be the anniversary of the night the baby had been conceived...about three more months would be the day when _**it**_ happened. The baby's birthday was in July – it's tenth birthday.

Oh, just who was she trying to fool by calling the baby "it" anyway? Madam Pomfrey had told her that it had been a girl. The healer had done the test as soon as she'd realized that it couldn't be saved – figuring that there would be a possibility that Alex would want to know. Alex hadn't told Sirius. She hadn't wanted to bring it up...but she thought about it all the time.

She would have looked just like her mother, but with her father's luscious black hair and gorgeous grey eyes. Beautiful beyond reason, brilliant, arrogant, spoiled...she would have been the only girl ever capable of giving Sirius Black grey hairs and wrinkles. They'd have already been teaching her magic by now – not like she would have been able to attend Hogwarts or any other school – and she would have been constantly nagging Draco to compare spells with her and to let her borrow his class notes from Hogwarts. Not because she _needed_ them, but because she would have been just as curious and inquisitive as her father. She would have played constant jokes on the house elves and would have spent her spare time plotting elaborate pranks with her father. She would have gone on shopping trips with her mother, and they would have spent so much money together that Sirius would have gotten lightheaded when he got the bill. They never would have forgotten to get him a present, though, and she would have always crawled into his lap to give it to him...along with her innocent eyes and a pout for good measure, both of which she would have inherited from her mother, and her father would have forgiven her anything.

She would have been perfect.

Alex had never wanted a family when she was younger. She had never really thought about it _too_ seriously...but with Sirius the maternal instincts shot into overdrive, and she found herself thinking of what his children would be like...What it would be like to _have_ his children... That man would produce _gorgeous_ babies. The want was an almost perceptible ache in her gut. She wanted more than almost anything to carry his children for him. She thought about it all the time...what pregnancy would be like, how he would be under her feet worse than a house elf through the whole thing, and how they would eventually have a little person to hold. She would have liked to have had four – two precious little girls and two naughty little boys, one of each to take after both her and Sirius.

She hated Albus Dumbledore more than any other person on Earth for taking that away from her.

Alex let a sigh escape her throat as something hit her foot. She looked down and discovered that the offending object was a ratty doll that had obviously seen more than its fair share of days. She looked up as the mother she'd been admiring berated her sons for playing keep away with their sister's doll. Alex picked up the toy and held it out to the little girl that was shyly watching her from a safe distance away. She was careful to avoid skin on skin contact as the girl al but snatched the doll out of her hand. The girl murmured a soft thank you as she darted back behind the safety of her mother's legs. Alex continued to watch as one of the boys sneered at the girl, who promptly gave him a solid thump upside the head – obviously her shyness didn't extend to aggravating big brothers.

The bickering continued until the family disappeared out of sight. Alex was just pondering on how her kids would have behaved when she caught a flash of blonde out of the corner of her eye and felt someone sit down beside her. She stiffened and spun to see just who was so close to her, and came face to face with Narcissa Malfoy. Her mouth fell open in surprise, but Narcissa's expression didn't change.

"Sirius though that you would hex him before you would speak to him," she stared out over the park calmly as she spoke, "so he asked me to check on you."

Alex knew that she'd kept herself completely closed off, and so shielded from location charms. She scowled angrily, "He has a tracking charm on me?!"

"I'm sure he just wanted to be able to make sure he could keep you safe," Narcissa was unfazed by her anger, which wasn't surprising considering the fact that she had to live with Lucius Malfoy. A little slip of a woman couldn't seem all that threatening after having lived with that monster.

Alex stared down at herself angrily, trying to figure out what he could have charmed. You couldn't charm a person, so it had to be something she was wearing. "Look, I don't want to talk _about_ him anymore than I want to talk _to_ him."

"You're okay, though?" Narcissa pressed on.

Alex refrained from informing the woman exactly how stupid that question was. Instead, she changed the subject, "Has Draco mentioned me?" She really wanted to know if he was mad enough at her to tell his mother about it.

Narcissa blinked and finally glanced over at her, "No...All he's talked about for weeks is the quidditch match today."

Alex wasn't surprised. Before he'd stopped talking to her, his letters had been full of anger about how Harry had been put onto the Gryffindor house team. What had started out as only _pretending_ to hate Harry had quickly escalated into _genuine_ dislike. Draco just couldn't get over the fact that the "Golden Trio", as he had privately deemed them, treated him like he already – at age _eleven_ – had the Dark Mark stamped into his flesh. It didn't help that the rest of the trio consisted of a Weasley – and a rather loud, rude, and clueless one at that, according to Draco – and a muggleborn who thought that she knew the first thing about magic just because she used Hogwart's child-friendly library to study the theory. Any idiot could read a book and perform a spell off the pages. It took a _bit_ more than book smarts to be a _real_ wizard: one who could bend magic to his will. To say that Draco was utterly repulsed at the way everyone praised the girl would be a gross understatement.

It was just the final straw that Harry had gotten caught doing something for which the punishment was expulsion...and he'd been made _seeker_! The fact that the boy was stupid enough to get caught just reiterated to Draco that the boy was needlessly stupid. If Draco had been caught he'd have been expelled until his father bribed someone to fix it, just like every other expelled student's parents had to do. Actually, Lucius would have used it as an excuse to move his son to Durmstrang and cut all funding to Hogwarts, but that was beside the point. Precious Harry Potter didn't even get _reprimanded_ before he started quidditch practice! If McGonagall had witnessed a _Slytherin_ make a catch like that, she'd have had them expelled...and even if they managed to stay at Hogwarts, she'd throw up an almighty hissy fit if Severus tried to make them seeker. But, because it was a Gryffindor and Potter to boot, she conveniently forgot that there were rules.

Her mental tirade on behalf of her boy came to an abrupt halt as she caught sight of her pendant. She yanked it off furiously and thrust it in Narcissa's general direction, "Give Sirius that and tell him to stop trying to reach me!"

She was gone between blinks. Just because Sirius was an utter ass didn't mean that she had to be fighting with _everyone_ she cared about. Draco Malfoy was about to learn that he was _not_ as stubborn as she was.

--------------------

"What do you mean she left?!" Narcissa Malfoy did not look at all impressed at her cousin's outburst.

She frowned at him, "What does the phrase 'she left' generally suggest, Sirius?"

He paced the length of the room once more before spinning on his heel to face her, "What did she say?"

"She said to give you this and to tell you to stop trying to reach her," she held out the pendant, "She wasn't crying, she wasn't cursing, she wasn't losing her temper...She just doesn't want to see you. I don't know what you did, but I'd leave her alone for a while if I were you."

Sirius took the necklace without thinking. It was a good thing he did, too, because he completely shut down as soon as his mind registered just exactly _what_ he was taking. Her pendant. The one thing that she almost never took off, and always kept within reach if she _did_. It was a piece of himself always with her. And she didn't want it. Didn't want him with her.

He plopped down heavily in his chair, "Leave, Narcissa."

"What is _wrong_ with you?" his cousin threw her hands up in the air, "You have never treated me like this! I can see that those etiquette lessons didn't pay off!"

"Yes, well, I never was much of a gentleman anyway _was I?_" Sirius glared across the desk at her, "And you're not much of a lady, either! What would your mother say to hear that you were openly defying your husband by associating with a bunch of muggle loving filth?!"

Narcissa gaped at him, "It's none of your business! But, if you _must_ know, Lucius Malfoy is not a gentleman because no gentleman would ever hit his wife, much less his own heir! If I have to help Nott to get rid of Lucius then I will!"

"I wasn't aware that it was such a rare thing to knock your heir around a little! It sure happened to me enough!" he was out of his seat now, yelling all of the things that he wanted to get off of his chest, "What's your plan, anyway? To provoke him enough that he'll hit you hard enough to kill you? Or just _Avada_ you into next week? Doesn't he love to do that? That's truly inspired, Cissa! Then Draco can be left all alone with the man!"

"Don't you tell me how to take care of my own son!" she leaned across the desk, meeting Sirius halfway as they got into each other's faces, "How would you know anything? It isn't like _you_ have any children!"

It was really hard to refrain from letting his fist fly and knocking the woman across the room. It was even harder to keep a leash on his magic. The power was at the end of its tether, straining against it and struggling fiercely to be set free, reminding him uncannily of Padfoot. It was as if his magic had a mind of its own, using his animagus form as an outlet for it's fury. A growl escaped his throat as he struggled to rein it in.

He _really_ _**really**_ wanted to bite his cousin. Hard. Preferably in the general area of the jugular.

Sirius clenched his fists and gritted his teeth against the temptation, "Get _out_." Narcissa seemed to have, in true Black fashion, realized what she'd said only after she'd said it. She opened her mouth to speak, but Sirius interrupted her with a vicious growl, "_**Get out!**_"

He let himself fall back into the chair, keeping his fists clenched by his sides and his eyes squeezed shut as he tried to regain control of his temper.

When he looked back up, Narcissa was gone.

He pitched himself forward with a groan, letting his head drop into his arms on the desk. What the hell was wrong with him? In the space of a morning, he'd managed to alienate the two women he cared the most for in the world.

How could he have said that to Alex? He knew for a fact that she didn't remember exactly what had happened that day at St. Mungo's. She'd never expressed her regret for the healer's death or her shame in him for killing the man, which was the reaction she was sure to have if she had the smallest hint that Healer Douglas hadn't had a choice. She had nightmares of excruciating pain, of not being able to move to defend herself or her baby, of being held down on a bed while her tormentors took away yet another thing she loved. She didn't remember anything else. How _dare_ he have brought up something that would hurt her so much? He could only remember a handful of times he'd ever been so furious, and it'd never been at himself.

And Narcissa...Well, Narcissa Malfoy should have known better than to talk to him like that. She saw how both he and Alex fawned all over Draco. She knew that they loved the boy as if he was actually theirs. She helped Draco hide all of their presents from his father. She fervently disapproved of some of the rare and dangerous things they sent him to help with his studies. She reprimanded them at every turn for spending so much money on the boy. Sirius _knew_ Narcissa, and he knew that her curiosity was too great for her to ignore. She had asked Alex in a letter once why she didn't have a son of her own if she loved Draco so much. Alex hadn't written another word to her since, but Sirius knew that Narcissa wouldn't have forgotten her question. She wouldn't have let the subject drop. She'd have already asked Madam Pomfrey if she knew anything about it, since the mediwitch was the only other person she knew that had contact with them. No, there was no doubt in his mind that Narcissa knew about St. Mungo's. It was a miracle that he'd managed not to curse the smug look off her face after those words had left her mouth...to not curse her until she didn't even have a face left to look smug with.

Alex, though, made his problems with his cousin seem completely unimportant. It all came back to her. He cared for Narcissa, sure, loved her like family...He would string his family up in the Forbidden Forest if Alex asked him to. He could only hope that she would forgive him in time. He knew it wasn't some small something where he could give her some precious jewel or take her to some distant paradise for her forgiveness. He actually didn't have a clue what he needed to do to earn her respect again. Groveling was definitely somewhere in his near future; profuse apologizing and time spent on his knees was the only place he could really think to start.

Quick footsteps coming down the hall warned him of the other man's presence before he even stuck his head in the door, "Sirius?"

He took a few moments to get his countenance under control before he looked up, "Got it in one."

Rip didn't seem to be in the mood for teasing, though. He rushed the rest of the way into the room and threw the Wizarding Wireless onto the desk, urgently twisting knobs until he had it on and the volume up, "Listen to this!"

_Scrimgeour (Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement): "It was a completely barbaric_ _attack on a group of helpless muggles. The place was completely torn apart and two were left dead._

_Cuffe (Reporting for the _Daily Prophet"_But sources who viewed the scene say that the deaths were caused by muggle weapons. What does the Department of Magical Law Enforcement have to do with muggle deaths in a muggle neighborhood?"_

_Scrimgeour: "We've been investigating the neighborhood for quite some time, Mr. Cuffe. We've had operatives_ _undercover for months now, and I am completely convinced that a wizard or group of wizards has been exploiting the residents of the neighborhood. We have reason to believe that they knew we were closing in, and, in direct response, they've started getting rid of the muggles who might be witness to their crimes."_

The rest of the interview was cut off at Sirius's growl, "Turn it off! I don't want to listen to it."

Rip complied instantly, but he apparently felt that he needed to fill the silence that ensued, "So, do you reckon that there'll be more..._wizards..._" he struggled with the word as if he didn't really want to say something so unbelievable, "coming after me?"

"I think they think that you're dead," Sirius was still glaring around at the room in general, he'd never liked listening to the newest Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Rufus Scrimgeour was a complete waste of space and magic. Sirius hated Barty Crouch with a fiery passion, of course, but at least _he_ had managed to capture more death eaters than not. If he should have been spending more time at home than at work it really wasn't anyone else's business, was it? The man really shouldn't have been ruined by his son's allegiances. Sirius bet they wouldn't have punished the entire family if it'd been one of the Weasley boys who turned death eater. But, because Barty Crouch was expected to make Minister, those who didn't like him had to ruin his name and his career over something a stupid and easily influenced teenaged boy had done.

Scrimgeour, on the other hand, had his hand firmly lodged in the death eaters' pockets. He went chasing after inconsequential troublemakers with tenacious vengeance, but he hardly ever lifted a hand to the _real_ death eaters' doings...Not unless the general public caught wind of it first. He was the one who had allowed death eaters to infiltrate the Ministry. When Voldemort came back – and it was really only a short matter of time now before that happened – he would perfectly poised to take over the government. And all because of Scrimgeour's incompetence.

Rip, of course, really couldn't have had any clue that listening to Scrimgeour's interview would make his friend so mad, so Sirius supposed he should really try to stop glaring. The man was staring at him quizzically now, "Why the hell would they think I'm dead? They didn't kill me!"

"No, but they didn't wait around to finish the job, did they?" Sirius summoned his bottle of Fire Whiskey and poured them both a glass as he spoke, "If they knew they hadn't killed you, they would have stuck around until you came back. I thought the man on the bed was you, and I'm sure I know you much better than anyone Nott could have sent."

"So it _was_ Nott, then?" Rip gladly accepted the Fire Whiskey, but started coughing after only the first sip.

Sirius whacked him on the back good-naturedly as he summoned a second glass, this time full of water, "Sorry, should have warned you...It's more potent than muggle liquor. And, yes, I'm sure it was Nott. I'd just warned him a day before the attack that he shouldn't associate with muggles if he knew what was good for him. I was just looking to get him away from muggles, of course, but I should have anticipated that he'd try to erase any evidence that he'd ever been unfaithful enough to deal with them in the first place...I was kind of too preoccupied staring at Alex to think straight, though. Shoddy excuse as it is."

Rip laughed briefly as he set down his now empty water glass, but his smile was still forced after the loss of his life as he knew it and, apparently, the loss of his boyfriend, too, "I guess I can't really blame a man for being distracted by _her_...Even if she _is_ mad as a hatter."

"She's not mad, Rip," Sirius replied indignantly, "She neither trusts nor even likes people, especially **male** people. Her feelings are pretty justified, too. You shot me, and it just enraged her so much that I almost died that she can't wrap her mind around the fact that you didn't want to kill me."

"Well, you could have fooled me. She's not exactly acting like she cares all that much about you," the comment hurt more than Sirius would admit to anyone...unless that anyone happened to be Alex herself and he happened to be groveling at the time.

He couldn't find anything to say to that, that wouldn't completely give him away and have him sobbing like a little girl in the next few seconds, so he completely ignored the subject and turned the attention back onto Rip, "So we'll have to find something for you to do, you know. I don't mind offering you protection from Nott or anything, but we're going to have to find you something useful to occupy your time. We wouldn't want you to get lazy and turn into a fat middle-aged blob on my sofa."

"And I guess you already have something in mind," it wasn't a question so much as a statement of fact.

Sirius summoned up a blank piece of parchment as he reached for his quill, "Of course I do. I hope you still don't have any issues with bothersome matters of legality..."

--------------------

_Dear Dung,_

_I hear you've got yourself a wonderful trading business. I'm sure you won't mind helping out an old friend like me, not that it matters if you __**do**__mind. I'm sure you'll see the benefits of coming quietly. Don't worry, Walburga isn't really as vicious as she seems._

_Sirius_ _Black_

_Official Creator of Magical Mischief Aids_, _Obtainer of Questionable Items and Artifacts, Haver of Elaborate Ideas, Holder of the Title of Most Detentions Served, Possessor of the Most Interesting Mind_, _McGonagall Charmer, and Co-Head Instigator of Trouble, etc. etc. _

for _The Marauders: Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers_

--------------------

"Dung?" Rip asked from over his shoulder, "What kind of person goes by _Dung_?"A smile touched the corners of Sirius's mouth. Oh, Rip was going to find out what kind of person alright. Hopefully by the end of the night. "And those are interesting...er...'titles'." Sirius's grin widened even further. What could he say? The Marauders had been a bit full of themselves in their younger days...

"Walburga!" he called out to hide his smile. The house elf, which he'd named after his mother when he was fourteen, appeared by his side not a split second later. She'd been completely faithful to Sirius since she'd been given to him when she was born, and she'd been overjoyed when he'd finally made an appearance at the Manor. She'd been following him around ever since, fluffing his seat cushions and constantly casting de-wrinkling charms on his clothes and cleaning up in front of him before he could even encounter a speck of dust. He was sure it was a welcome task for her, since he was also pretty sure that she hadn't been treated right since he'd left home at sixteen. His mother had never been very happy with her – Sirius had laughed for months about the expression on her face when he'd christened his house elf Walburga – but Sirius had always protected his house elf as best he could, and after his father died his mother wasn't allowed to kill or destroy anything else anyway since it all belonged to her son.

"Master called Walburga! Is Master's inkwell being low? Is Master's cushion needing fluffing? Is Master being hungry? Is Master's clothes being messed?" In a matter of seconds, Sirius found himself with an overflowing inkwell, sitting on a cushion that hadn't been there before, in perfectly straightened and starched clothes.

He held up a hand to stop the elf as she continued to try to fix every problem he could imaginably have all at once, "I'm fine. I just need you to take this letter to someone. Give him time to read it, then bring him straight back here to see me. He can have time to finish whatever he's doing if he cooperates...but if he tries to run or otherwise get away from you, you force him to come right then."

Walburga all but snatched the parchment from his hands, bowing low and enthusing about her task as she assured him that it would be done properly.

Once she was gone, he met Rip's gaze, wary and a bit scared of whatever Sirius was planning. Sirius really hoped that everything worked out how he wanted it to. He didn't mind having Rip around, but it was really better if he could manage to get the man out of his house. Alex's feelings were much more important than Rip's. Besides, Dung and Rip would get along famously once Dung decided to trust him. It didn't really matter what the man thought of Sirius, though he was pretty sure than Mundungus Fletcher couldn't care less if his friend was a murderer or not so long as he wasn't in any personal danger.

Anyway, this meeting would give him something to think about other than Alex. He felt the weight of her pendant in his pocket, and knew that he had no way of finding her before she decided that she wanted to see him again. At least no way that _wouldn't_ completely infuriate her and shatter her trust in him even further than he'd already managed to break it. He could only keep himself busy and keep his mind off of it until she came back to him...and try to stay sane without her in the meantime. He just had to trust – and fervently hope – that she came back soon.

--------------------

An enormous cloud of dust awaited whoever entered the room. Alex was no exception; her expensive clothes were thoroughly covered in a thick layer of grime as she teleported in. She gave a halfhearted glare at the room in general, but it didn't last long since she had more important things to worry about anyway. Like, for example, whether or not Draco was going to show up. She couldn't replace her boy as easily as she could replace her clothes. She couldn't replace him at all...Ever.

She'd sent him a howler so he couldn't ignore her message, and given the owl explicit instructions not to deliver it to him until he was alone. She hadn't screamed at him, though, so all it contained was a rather desperate invitation for him to join her in the Shrieking Shack after the quidditch match. She had to explain the situation to him: why she'd yelled at him like he meant nothing to her. He had to understand that she _did_ love him, but that Sirius surviving a gunshot wound had been infinitely more important than Draco's feelings at the time.

So maybe being so close to Hogwarts twice in one week wasn't the safest thing she'd ever done, but she couldn't stand the thought of being estranged from _both_ of her men at the same time. And, truth be told, she kind of _hoped_ that she'd run into Dumbledore...or at least a professor that could present _some_ sort of challenge.

She needed something to distract her before she went even more insane from all the stress. Hadn't she just been thinking how much she needed Sirius? How much they needed each other really. He'd cut her down with his words in a way she'd never been cut down before. It only took two seconds for him to betray her as thoroughly as if he'd taken away her magic and handed her over to Dumbledore. It wouldn't have hurt her nearly as much if he'd just done that to her. If he wanted to throw away their last decade together for some muggle _man_ who had a crush on him...couldn't he have at least been generous enough to kill her? Did he really _have_ to use the most traumatic and personal thing that had ever happened between them to hurt her?

And, despite everything, she loved him. She missed him. She wanted to crawl back to him, to take whatever else he threw at her. He was slowly but steadily leaving her. He spent more time working than he spent with her, he forgot about her every time someone else from his past showed up, he chose Rip over her...It didn't matter, though. She would go back and take the hurt and the pain he gave her – would take _whatever_ he offered her – until he finally got sick of her altogether and put her out of her misery.

Alex was determined not to lose Draco, though. Sirius might be pulling away from her, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let Draco leave her, too. She paced the room anxiously, kicking up a cloud of dust with every step. He wasn't coming. It'd been _ages_. He should have been here by now if he was going to show up! Alex stopped pacing for a fraction of a second to glare down at the delicately built diamond watch on her wrist.

_Twelve minutes_! It had only been _twelve_ minutes? It seemed like so much longer...

Thirteen minutes. Alex resumed her furious pacing about the room. She hated waiting.

Fourteen minutes. Maybe he really did hate her...

Fifteen minutes. Alex sunk onto a ratty chair, a cloud of dust puffing up around her. He really wasn't coming, was he?

Then, as the watch revealed that she had been waiting for sixteen minutes, she heard a distinct creak.

Alex leapt to her feet in excitement, blissfully ignorant of the thick layer of grime now covering the entire back of her body.

The hinges on the trap door screeched horribly as a pale hand pushed it up and over onto the floor. A pale head of hair appeared next, followed by the face she'd missed so much. He got more and more handsome every time she saw him. Alex leapt forward and threw her arms around him as soon as he was securely standing in the room.

He hugged her back for a fraction of a second, then she felt him tense, "Ew! Get off !"

She just clutched him all that much tighter, "Draco, I'm _so_ sorry! I never meant to snap at you...You were...and Sirius was...and I...and Draco, I _love_ you! I didn't mean to..."

"I know, Alex," he was still struggling against her, "but you're covered in _dirt_!"

It took a moment for his words to sink in. Alex leapt back away from him, managing to kick up another cloud of dust as she went. Once it settled, she was left looking at the look of disgust on Draco's face. His face was covered in layer of grime, and his sneer was prominent in the middle of the mess. A giggle worked its way out of Alex's mouth at his expression, and she reached out a hand to purposefully rub more of the dirt onto his cheek.

"Stop!" he all but shrieked as she lifted the other hand, "Stop it! Alex, stop it!"

He whipped his head from side to side to try and foil her attempts to smudge even more dirt onto him. It was during the struggle that Alex noticed something amiss. Horribly, terribly amiss. She refused to let the game go on any longer and took a firm hold of Draco's chin, forcing his head to the side.

A hiss escaped her as she got a good look at his face, "_Who?_"

The boy froze, looking up with wide eyes, "Alex..."

"Answer me!" she demanded fiercely, her thumb tracing along the bruise so gently that he knew her anger was in no way directed towards Draco himself.

He stared at her mutely, his grey eyes bright with fear. She could feel him shaking. His bottom lip was trembling, the terrified expression amplified even further by the ugly bruise marring his otherwise perfect face. Alex's tone changed abruptly as she watched him bite his lip to stop the trembling, and she let go of his chin to wrap her arms around him, "Draco, please tell me who did that to you. Everything will be just fine, sweetheart. I'll hurt them _so_ bad for this, whoever it is..."

He pulled back then, and, just as suddenly as his expression had deteriorated earlier, he adopted the same expressionless mask that she recognized from Sirius.

"I'm perfectly fine, Alex, really," he took a step further away from her, "I got it in the crowd at the quidditch match."

Alex's eyes narrowed furiously, "You, Draco Malfoy, are a liar."

"I'm not!" he protested, his facade cracking.

"I swear if you don't tell me what happened I'll have Sirius ask you," she threatened, wagging a finger at the nasty mark on his cheekbone, "I'll tell him that you have a big awful bruise on your face and you're too afraid to say how you got it because the person threatened to make it worse if you told!"

Draco gaped openly at her now, "Alex, he'd slaughter half of Hogwarts if you told him that!"

"Well then, I guess you'd better tell me," she turned her nose up triumphantly, "Only one person has to die that way."

And she watched in shock as the impeccable Draco Malfoy threw himself onto the filthy floor with nary a thought to the dust rising from the wood and settling onto his hair and his skin and his clothes. It was barely audible when he finally spoke, and Alex could only stare at him as she felt her anger rise to new heights.

"Father."

--------------------

A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to update. The longest time ever, I believe. I just had to take a brief hiatus. This is the first time in the second part where I've really delved into Alex's mind. I figured everyone would rather wait and have a decent effort than have me force out some piece of utter shit.

As for the little whiners on here...only one person actually, and you know who you are...If you want a story to be updated every week or two without fail then I suggest _you_ be the one to write it. Not to mention the fact that this story in particular is so much more involved than a lot of other stories on here...I can't write filler just so I can update sooner. Everything has to happen just right or the whole thing will be completely messed up later on.

And, for that matter, it really doesn't take me that long to update. Sure, it may seem like a while to readers...but look at the length of these chapters compared to the length of a lot of the chapters on other stories. You complained about most people only taking a few weeks to update and me taking a month or more at a time...Well, maybe that's because my chapters are twice or thrice as long as a lot of others. Therefore, it makes perfect sense for it to take two or three times longer to update, doesn't it? And no, I can't just shorten the chapters so they'll come out faster. This thing has already gotten way out of control...and I really don't want it to end up having 500 chapters!


	42. And We All Fall Down

A/N: OMG! I'm back! Refreshed and happily married! For anyone who has actually stuck with this story across the long, long, long time…thank you so much for returning with me! I would have warned everyone if I'd known it would be this long between updates, but by the time I realized it was going to be a while I didn't want to add an A/N as a chapter or update an existing chapter with that information…I figured it'd be a bit cruel to have the few people who actually care think there was a new chapter only to find an A/N.

Chapter Forty-Two

The night had passed away rather quickly in a whirlwind of drinking and reminiscing, despite Alex's continued disappearance. Sirius couldn't remember getting so deliciously drunk off his ass since before he'd left the muggle scene behind. Rip, who had obviously never before been exposed to wizarding alcohol of any kind, was about a dozen times worse off than Sirius. He was absolutely _amazed_ by Sirius's magic, actually, and had spent half the night hanging off the edge of his seat in fascination.

Given the circumstances, it made perfect sense to Sirius to show his friend the wonderful specimens of magical creatures he possessed...And so they went stumbling and tripping down the halls and up the stairs, clinging to one another for dear life the entire way, until Sirius was sure the house elves were going to have conniption fits from worrying over his safety. The elves were trailing along after them, squeaking in terror every time Sirius stumbled or lost his balance. It was quite annoying, and if he'd been in his right mind Sirius would have thought to dismiss them from his presence. As it was, his slurred exclamations of annoyance were hardly enough to discourage the elves from following him around the house and making sure he didn't stagger right into some sort of ancient booby trap or something.

"It's _so_ awesome, man," Sirius assured Rip as they (finally) approached the big double doors leading to Aunt Elladora's gallery, "It's going to, like, I don't know...like, blow you away or something!"

Rip let out a giggle, clutching onto Sirius's shirt to keep his balance as he stumbled over the corner of a rug on the floor, "Blowed away! I don't know, dude...maybe I wanna stay _on the ground_."

"No really, man," Sirius patted the top of his friend's head reassuringly, but in the process seemed to have forgotten what he was going to say. He blinked, and started over, "No _really_...I wouldn't letcha get blowed away…for really!"

Rip giggled again, the sound muffled because his face was buried in Sirius's stomach, and moved to wrap his arms around his friend's waist. Sirius, for his part, allowed the show of affection without a fight. Rip stayed attached to Sirius as they shuffled awkwardly towards the doorway, only looking up from his place at Sirius's stomach once they'd stopped moving, "You're hard."

The words surprised Sirius, as he hadn't realized that. Apparently he'd become so used to alcohol that he didn't remember it making his body numb. He looked down with a raised eyebrow, but couldn't see any evidence to back up Rip's statement. Rip followed Sirius's gaze with his own, and let out another giggle as his eyes met with the other man's crotch.

"Not _that_, silly!" he blew a raspberry against Sirius's stomach, which was pretty ineffective against the fabric of his friend's shirt, "Your _tummy_." He poked Sirius's abs quite hard to emphasize his point, but couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from his friend's groin now that it had been brought to his attention.

Sirius, quite uncomfortable with the other man's scrutiny of his bits, pulled Rip upright. Rip simply moved his head to rest on Sirius's shoulder instead, looking up into his face with a grin. Their eyes met, Sirius's gaze confused and Rip's lecherous, and Rip's arms tightened around Sirius's waist.

"Watcha doin?" Sirius's question was more slurred by his inebriation than he would have liked to admit.

One of Rip's hands came up to pat his cheek, "You're _so_ pretty!"

Sirius only had a split second to realize what was happening before the shorter man's mouth was pressed sloppily against his, tongue sweeping against his lips. Sirius stepped backwards to try to get away, but Rip's hands had already become entangled with his hair. If he was sober he would've been able to get away quite easily, but, then again, if he was sober he never would have gotten himself into this situation in the first place. In his drunken state, though, they both ended up stumbling backwards. His back hit the wall hard, stopping his progress away from Rip as the other man moved forward to press more fully against him.

It was the feel of the other man's erection against his thigh that finally spurred Sirius into action. He shoved Rip off of him, perhaps a little too hard since he was sent flying into the wall on the opposite side of the corridor. Sirius let himself fall back into the wall, gasping to regain his breath as he stared across the hall at the man sprawled on his back on the floor. Rip's gaze was dazed and confused and still full of lust as he gazed up from the floor, running a hand over the spot on his head that had connected with the wall.

Almost unconsciously, Sirius brought a hand up to his lips. He didn't really know what to think or say or do. It wasn't so much the fact that Rip had kissed him as it was the fact that his friend truly wanted him that much. The fact that Rip was into guys had always been more an idea than a reality, and the fact that he had a crush on Sirius had always been a kind of abstract joke in Sirius's mind.

…Okay, so maybe it _was_ the fact that Rip had kissed him. He was a _man_, for Merlin's sake! Sirius was more than a bit grossed out, but he also didn't think that allowing himself to spaz out like he _wanted_ to would be a very good thing for the continuation of their friendship. He honestly didn't care that the man was into guys, just that Rip was into _him_.

Their staring contest was interrupted by a tug on his sleeve, "Master, Walburga is brought back Master's man."

It took Sirius a few seconds to realize exactly who his house elf was talking about, but he was extremely glad for the interruption. "Thanks, Walburga," he straightened, standing upright instead of leaning against the wall, "Put him in my study…and have a Sobering Potion waiting for me there. Oh, and send someone up to put Rip to bed."

With instructions given out and his presence no longer needed, he stumbled off down the corridor with as much dignity as he could muster in the current situation. He didn't look back at his friend once, as he wasn't entirely sure that he could keep his reaction under control.

Alex wasn't going to like this one bit.

* * *

"Your father did this?"

Draco looked like he was about to be sick, despite the fact that Alex's voice was deceptively calm. A brief nod was the only confirmation he was able to provide.

Alex wrapped her arms around the boy, carrying them both down to the floor. The dust and grime were forgotten as Draco allowed himself to be wrapped in the protective embrace. He didn't cry - it just wouldn't have been very Malfoy-like to cry - but he allowed himself small whimpers into Alex's shoulder. Alex, for her part, was absolutely fuming.

Eventually, no amount of not wanting to scare the boy any further could stop her from speaking up, "Why the hell would your father hit you, dearest?"

Draco buried his face further into her shoulder, a muffled, "Mmmph!!" was the only thing Alex could make out from his reply.

Alex didn't press the issue anymore for the time being. It wouldn't do any good to try to make the boy tell her what had happened until he was good and ready to talk about it. Draco was a lot like Sirius, and she knew that sometimes Sirius just needed time to work things through in his own head before he was able to explain it to anyone else.

Not that she wanted to think about Sirius at the moment.

Instead, she focused her undivided attention onto Draco. It probably wasn't as bad as it looked. At least she _hoped_ not. The complete and utter asshole with whom she lived and would not call by name (since she was trying to not think of him) bruised pretty easily. Maybe it was the pale skin, and such a mark simply showed up ten times more vibrantly on Draco than it would on a person with a darker complexion. Of course, the swelling around it couldn't really be ignored. Actually, she really didn't care how bad it was…Lucius Malfoy was just going to have to be put down.

"Potter sucks," Draco blurted out suddenly, the smile immediately left his face as he scowled in displeasure, "because _he_ made it onto the Quidditch team. Father said _I_ should have been able to make my House team, too."

"He physically assaulted his own son because he was upset that another eleven-year-old boy made it onto a Quidditch team? Is there even a spot _available_ on Slytherin's team?"

"No!" Draco exclaimed in disgust, "He said a _respectable_ Malfoy would have been able to beat the current seeker in tryouts and take the spot. I'm not even trained to _be_ a seeker! I like to play chaser! But just because bloody _Potter_ has some weird innate ability to play seeker, _I_ have to be able to play it, too!"

Alex never thought she'd know of a man who was irrational enough to attack his son over a Quidditch position. Especially one the kid had no opportunity to even try to get. The man was obviously not fit to reproduce. Or to even live in the first place.

"Well, you shouldn't let him affect you too much, Draco," she pulled back to look him in the eyes, "He can bruise you physically all he wants, but you should never let him make you feel like you are worthless."

He blinked like he was trying to hold back tears at the thought, "But…_Potter_ made his House team the _first year_! He's the Boy-Who-Lived, Dumbledore's favorite, _and_ the youngest seeker in a century!"

"He's just a boy," Alex tried to reassure him, "Is there really anything so special about him? He didn't do anything himself to contribute to being the Boy-Who-Lived and Dumbledore has more hair than sense anyway. Everything that's happened to him is sheer luck."

"I helped him get on the team!" Draco exclaimed bitterly.

Alex just wrapped him in a consoling embrace once more. There wasn't really anything to say to someone who'd just learned the hard lesson that life isn't fair. All in all, she figured that Draco wouldn't even be so upset about Harry in the first place if his father hadn't put it into his blond little head that he was somehow inferior to the lucky Gryffindor. It really was undeniable, though, that if any student whose name was _not_ Harry Potter had been caught flying that day, they would have been expelled. She really couldn't blame Draco for being so gullible to his father's words since everyone _did_ seem to want to treat Harry specially.

Really, though, the cause could be dealt with after the effects were no longer visible on his otherwise perfect skin.

"Draco, as much as I want to spend this time with you, I think that you should go ahead and see Madam Pomfrey to fix you up," she traced her thumb along one of the bruises with a careful touch.

Draco's mouth fell opened a few seconds before he was able to reply, "But, Alex! Didn't you know that Madam Pomfrey was removed from the school?"

* * *

Sirius's head was still pounding and he wished, not for the first time in his life, that magic really was a cure for anything. Unfortunately, magic couldn't cure pounding headaches unless one first used magic to get rid of whatever was causing it. The only cure for an overactive mind that refused to stop working, thinking, and processing was to take a Dreamless Sleep Potion and sleep it off…not that it wouldn't just come right back the moment he woke up. It was unfair, really…but, then again, Sirius supposed the best thing he could have done was to not fuck up and give himself things to worry about in the first place.

At least one problem was about to be taken care of. Rip could _not_ stay in this house. Sirius was sure that the man wouldn't even remember their interlude in the corridor by this time tomorrow, but the fact remained that Sirius himself would remember. Besides that, there was always the fact that Alex couldn't stand to get within cursing distance of him…or Sirius either for that matter. But, hopefully, Sirius would be able to earn her forgiveness once Rip was out of the picture.

He took a deep breath to collect himself and, with his continued felicity with Alex in mind, he pushed opened the door of his study.

Mundungus Fletcher was perched precariously on the extreme edge of one of Sirius's invaluable antique Italian leather chairs, and he did not look at all happy to be there. Sirius opted to ignore his guest for just a few seconds longer in his eagerness to reach the Sobering Potion the house elves had waiting for him on his desk. However, he couldn't exactly fail to notice that the unkempt and, frankly, rather filthy man immediately leapt to his feet and bowed as graciously as he could manage as soon as he caught sight of the lord of the house. In fact, he stayed in that position - with his back parallel to the floor and his head down as low as he could get it - the whole time it took Sirius to eagerly chug the potion and collapse pretty gracelessly into his _very_ comfortable chair.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation as he finally focused his attention onto Dung.

Dirty, tangled hair half obscured the man's face when he cautiously dared to glance up, "It is such an honor to be invited to your _lovely_ home, my lord, and may I just say tha…"

"Would you kindly shut the fuck up? And stand up!" Sirius's demands sent the other man into a ramrod straight silence. "Honestly, Dung, you can relax, you know. I'm not going to fly across this desk and strangle you."

Dung shifted his weight from foot to foot nervously, "It ain't exactly you strangling me that I'm worried about…"

"Well, I won't curse you into oblivion either," Sirius couldn't help but roll his eyes in annoyance.

"Or take my leg off?" Dung crossed his arms over his chest, "Or how about torture me silly?"

Sirius barked out in laughter, the loud sound only causing his head slight irritation since his potion was starting to kick in, "No, I won't use any Severing Charms or Cruciatus Curses…I might rape and impregnate you against your will, though."

The other man seemed to finally realize that the high and mighty lord sitting in front of him was actually the same old Sirius Black he used to know, albeit a convicted mass murderer. He visibly relaxed and allowed himself a black-toothed grin at the joke, "Where is the bird, anyhow? Rumor has it she was worth your trouble, if you know what I mean…"

"She's out," came Sirius' clipped reply, "I do have another guest you need to worry about, though. Handsome fellow, he is…Just your type."

"I'd be right tempted if I could stop sweating over why you sent a house elf after me," his arms crossed back over his chest at that, "A _house elf_, Black! A right ornery one, too!"

Sirius shrugged, "Well, I doubt you'd have jumped at the opportunity to meet with a deranged sociopath such as myself of your own free will. I didn't have the time to convince you nicely to come. I do have a nice proposition for you to make up for your troubles…so long as you're still into the underground."

"And what can an upstanding citizen like myself expect to gain from a deal with you, eh Black?" Dung plopped heavily into his chair and slumped down carelessly.

"Besides my continued good mood?" Sirius asked pointedly.

Fletcher was silent for a few moments, before he nodded, "Sounds like a good deal to me."

"I do like it when it's this easy. I didn't even have to tell you what I wanted before you agreed," Sirius allowed himself to lean back more comfortably into his own seat, "I want information. Frankly, I don't give a good goddamn what you do with your time or your life so long as you tell me every little tidbit you hear that anyone might even remotely like to know."

Mundungus blinked a few times in confusion, "That's all?"

"I want you to take my friend with you. He seems to have a problem with staying hidden, and I don't have the time to keep an eye on him every second of the day," Sirius met Fletcher's incredulous gaze with a hard one of his own, "You are going to teach him everything you know about living underground…living _happily_ underground, mind you. If he complains to me that you're mistreating him I might have to reevaluate your place in my good graces."

Dung was still staring at him like he'd lost his mind, "You want me to be your babysitter?"

"If that's how you want to look at it," Sirius shrugged carelessly, "Hopefully, though, he'll catch on quickly and be able to separate from you soon."

"How am I supposed to be discreet with a clueless whelp following every step I take?" Dung exclaimed, "I can't be discreet with a partner! You know as well as I do that no one will trust a newcomer!"

Sirius had to admire the man for the balls he had to stand up to a mass murderer, not that he was going to let it influence his decision, "Oh, I think the two of you will work quite well together. He may not be able to move around in the wizarding world, but, with a bit of instruction on discretion from you, I think that he'll be able to move around quite well in the world you don't know how to move in…"

Dung actually stood up from his seat in his shock, "He's a _muggle_!"

Before Sirius could answer, a smooth voice interrupted him, "A filthy, lying, _traitorous_ one at that."

* * *

Sirius didn't seem entirely comfortable being in the same room alone with her. He was fidgeting in his seat, bouncing his knee up and down and tapping his finger on his desk. She waited until the door of the study closed behind her, the dirty man who had previously been with Sirius having been escorted out by a particularly pushy house elf so the two lovers could have a bit of privacy, and then moved closer to the desk. Alex deliberately ignored the chair Sirius's little friend had occupied, since she couldn't help but wrinkle her nose up in disgust at the filth left behind on it.

"Really, I don't understand you," she said as she stiffly took a seat on the settee instead, "You went ten years without speaking to anyone, and then overnight there are muggles and homeless people in my house."

"He isn't homeless," Sirius still avoided meeting her eyes directly, "er…Not _exactly_ anyway."

Alex held up a hand to stop his explanation, "I really couldn't care any less. I have more important things to worry about than who you decide to associate with. Madam Pomfrey was arrested."

She watched as his jaw dropped and his gaze finally swiveled around to meet hers, "She was _what_!"

"Arrested." Alex informed him calmly, "For aiding and abetting Sirius Black."

"Holy shit!" Sirius leapt out of his seat and was pacing in front of his desk - his telltale nervous habit - in the next second. "How the hell could this happen?"

Alex couldn't help but roll her eyes, "I suppose it was saving your life that really upset the Ministry."

He stood still for all of a few seconds to glare at her, "Be serious! We have to get her out of there! When did they arrest her? Where are they holding her?"

"They arrested her the second she appeared back in Hogsmeade, but that's all that I know. Draco didn't know any details, but I put two and two together about what happened," she told him.

"When did you talk to Draco?" he demanded.

"I only left him moments ago," Alex crossed her arms over her chest, his tone of voice having put her on the defensive.

For good reason, too, as he all but yelled at her, "What the fuck were you thinking going to Hogwarts! You could have been captured or killed or hurt or seen or followed!"

"I was thinking, you sorry sack of hippogriff dung, that I didn't feel like being in a fight with _both_ of the men I love. Though why I love you is a complete mystery to Merlin and all the rest of us," she glared into his stormy eyes defiantly, "And it's a damned good thing that one of us thought to visit the boy, too, since _someone_ had to comfort him and heal his bruises! Merlin only knows Madam Pomfrey should have been there to do a better job."

He had stopped pacing altogether in favor of staring at her with his mouth hanging opened instead. Good, she thought, he needed to be taken down a notch or ten. It wasn't as if he could _always_ be the one with the upper hand.

But, because she loved him (even if it _was_ against her better judgment), she decided to take pity on him and fill in the blanks, "Draco met me in the Shrieking Shack to talk about what happened between us the night you were hurt. He had all these bruises - he was absolutely _covered_ in them - and he said that his father had punished him because Harry Potter made his house quidditch team and Draco didn't. When I told him that he should go see Madam Pomfrey to get fixed up properly, he said that Madam Pomfrey had been removed from her position at Hogwarts. It isn't common knowledge, of course, but he asked Narcissa and she told him that Madam Pomfrey was arrested in connection with aiding and abetting a fugitive…and since I doubt she's been helping any other criminals lately…"

He plopped down heavily on the cushion beside her, a ragged groan escaping his throat, "How did they know?"

"The woman - McGonagall was it? The one who saw you the last time? - saw Madam Pomfrey leaving with me," Alex explained softly, her anger at him taking a backseat to her concern for him, "Madam Pomfrey convinced everyone that she'd been kidnapped last time, but I doubt that anyone would believe that a second time. Particularly since McGonagall isn't going to think she went crazy and dreamed Madam Pomfrey willingly leaving with us twice in a row."

When Sirius lifted his eyes to hers again, it was in a hard glare, "You _let_ McGonagall go?"

Alex knew that she hadn't managed to hide the shock she felt, "You were dying! I wasn't going to take time out to…"

"Well you should have!" he interrupted her, "Now an innocent woman is in trouble because of us!"

"Sirius…" she reached out to touch his arm, "It isn't your fault."

His hand suddenly gripped her wrist in a too tight hold, forcing her hand away from his arm, "No, it isn't my fault. It's _your_ fault."

Alex struggled to pull her arm away from him, "Stop it! Sirius, you're hurting me!"

"How could you let McGonagall go?!" he continued on with his tirade as if he didn't hear her, his grip tightening even further around her wrist.

In his anger, his power got away from him and erupted into the familiar black glow around him. Alex tried to shrink back from it, but his grip on her prevented that from happening. His grip wasn't just punishing in its strength anymore, but it was burning her wherever his skin was in contact with hers. Her free hand came up reflexively to try to free herself, and it was burned too when she touched him.

It was the tears running down her face that finally snapped him out of his rage when he looked back at her once more. He dropped her arm as if he was the one being burned, all trace of anger fading from his countenance as he took in what he had done.

"Oh my God," he breathed out almost painfully, "Alex, I didn't mean to…"

Her palm making a painful and resounding slap against his cheek stopped him that time, "You never do! You never _mean_ to do anything! But you always do, Sirius! You always _do_!"

He grabbed her wrist again in an attempt to stop her as she tried to leave, "Alex, _please_…You can never know how sorry I am…"

"Don't touch me!" her own magic finally showed itself, propelling him backwards and away from her, "Don't you ever touch me again!"

She left him sobbing into the couch cushions as she ran, and didn't stop until she ran into a dead end and had nowhere to go except down onto the floor in a crying mass of her own.

* * *

A/N: Well, when they fight they really fight, don't they?

All of the reviews during my little hiatus were deeply appreciated, and if I didn't respond to yours it was a complete accident since I want to show my appreciation for all of you. If you reviewed anonymously and I couldn't reply to you personally, I'd like to add that I appreciate your support just as much as everyone else's. It was really the reviews I got that made me feel extra bad about not making time to write more on this story, so anyone who read and didn't review should really thank the reviewers for kicking my ass into making another chapter!


	43. Hang 'Em High

**Chapter Forty-Three**

The halls seemed somehow more desolate than normal as Sirius walked to the dining room for breakfast the next morning. It wasn't that the magically controlled lights had stopped working, because they hadn't. It wasn't that the house elves had slacked off in their cleaning of cobwebs, because they hadn't. It wasn't even the fact that his eyes were still slightly swollen and his sight blurry from crying. It was simply the fact that Alex wasn't by his side and he knew that she wasn't waiting for him at the end of the hall either.

Alex hated him. That was the beginning and the end of it really. He'd hurt her. _Hurt_ Alex. He couldn't even look at himself in the mirror. He didn't even want to _be_ Sirius Black anymore. Sirius Black was a bad man. Sirius Black hurt the people he loved. And he didn't want to be inside this body with this power and this danger.

She'd cut herself off from him. It felt like simultaneous blows to the chest and stomach. He not only felt like he couldn't breathe, but also felt that his chest was going to constrict so much that his heart would stop beating altogether. Provided he actually had a heart, of course, which he wasn't entirely sure about at this point. At least when she'd walked out he'd still been able to feel that she was alive. Now he couldn't even feel _that_. Not that he blamed her for wanting nothing to do with him. He wouldn't want anything to do with himself either.

He plodded into the dining room with his head down because he didn't want to look at the empty table. Or, more importantly, Alex's empty seat. It was probably only luck that allowed him to reach his chair without either running straight into something or tripping and falling. He didn't even really want to eat, to be honest. He was just going through the motions. He felt like he was on autopilot: he was supposed to get up in the mornings and come to the dining room for breakfast, so here he was. He didn't know why he'd even bothered. He was just going to leave his plate completely untouched, cause great insult to the house elves, and stare at his own reflection in the pristine finish of the table. Really, how could he be expected to eat when he could _see_ himself at the same time? He _disgusted_ himself.

He thought he might have actually made himself physically ill last night. He couldn't really remember much about it, though. Alex's tearstained cheeks and those beautiful eyes showing exactly how afraid she was of him, the desperation he felt to make it better but his inability to do anything except for the completely wrong thing, the scratch of the rough fabric of the sofa against his face as he'd crashed into it and slid down, the almost completely foreign ache behind his eyes as the tears started to fall…those were the things he remembered. That and how absolutely sickened he was by his own actions. He thought he remembered crying himself sick, but maybe it was all just in his head.

Maybe it was just that he _thought_ he shouldn't even be able to look at himself without being sick all over the expensive furniture.

He didn't even know what the hell he was thinking about or what the hell he remembered. Hell, maybe it had _all_ just been a dream. Draco didn't get beat up, but even if he had Madam Pomfrey had been there to take care of him. In fact, Alex hadn't come home last night at all. She was in one of their other houses or in a hotel room or at the spa. She was going to cool off and come back and they would make up and have fantastic sex and then Rip would leave and then they would have their own happily ever after all over again and read together and go on dates together and say they loved each other and have even more fantastic sex all the time just like before.

Except his eyes wouldn't be so bleary and his sinuses wouldn't be such a mess if it hadn't actually happened. And how else was he supposed to explain away the scrape covering an entire side of his face if it hadn't been dragged halfway down the rough, scratchy material of the settee in his study. Or what about the sting he still felt in the shape of a handprint on his other cheek? Of course it'd all happened.

He was just going crazy.

That was a laugh, too, wasn't it? All these years being accused of being an unhinged sociopath under the tutelage of Voldemort, and it hadn't even taken a single meeting with the Dark Lord to finally drive him absolutely bonkers.

"Hey, mate, are you alive under that hair?" Sirius didn't bother to lift his head at the interruption. It was only Rip. Only the man who had started all of this in the first place.

He didn't dare react. He would normally trust his own self-control, but the new stark raving mad Sirius Black couldn't even be trust _himself_. Not that Rip wouldn't deserve anything that happened to him. How dare he cause a rift between Sirius and Alex anyway? They'd been together for ten years! What exactly could _Rip_ use to recommend himself compared to that? The fact that he'd placed Sirius closer to death's door than he'd ever been before? That he'd acted like a lovesick puppy since the first moment he'd laid eyes on Sirius? That he couldn't hold his liquor or keep his tongue to himself?

"You can tell me what's wrong." Had his voice _always_ been so annoying? "What do you say, handsome?"

If Rip had wanted to get his attention that was definitely the way to go about it. At the endearment, Sirius's head shot up fast enough to startle the man who'd been trying to get that very reaction in the first place.

He had every intention of ripping the man a new one. Maybe Rip could use it when he tried to whore himself out to all his other friends. Sirius stopped dead in his tracks, though, at exactly where his gaze had landed.

Alex's seat.

Rip had had the nerve to take Alex's place beside him.

"You look like shit!" he was clearly oblivious to the imminent danger he was in, "Is your woman a bit abusive then?"

If Rip hadn't noticed Sirius's obvious anger before, he couldn't help but notice it when he was slammed headfirst against the table. An agonized groan escaped the man as his skull crunched against the wood, but Sirius barely heard it through the rush of power in his ears. His grip on the man's throat didn't lessen in the least just because his face was turning an interesting shade of purple.

It was only when he caught sight of Rip's eyes that he thought to let go. He was terrified. Just like Alex had been. It was then Sirius realized that he couldn't really blame Rip for his own problems. _He_ was the one who had decided to interfere with Nott. _He_ was the one who had decided to bring Rip into their lives. _He_ was the one who didn't deal with Alex's thoughts and fears like any normal lover should have.

He let go of his friend's neck and leapt back as far as he could.

It was completely _his_ fault. He was just a _monster_. He was worse than most of the death eaters he knew. He didn't know himself anymore.

* * *

Was it supposed to hurt this bad? She'd been happy for so long that she wasn't sure what hurt was supposed to be like. Was it knowing that the love of her life had chosen an old friend over her? Was it running from him because she was terrified of him? Was it sleeping in a room that wasn't her own, in a bed all by herself? Was it tossing and turning all night because she wanted so badly to feel his touch? Or how about the fact that the only touch she could seem to bring to mind was the one where he broke her wrist?

Which still ached, by the way. Walburga had found her sobbing in the middle of a hallway and had patched Alex up to the best of her ability, but house elves couldn't be called healers by any means (unless, of course, they were trained as such). Of course, the only healer who would even consider tending to Sirius Black's mistress was currently in Ministry custody being held Merlin only knew where. And Alex failed dismally at healing spells. She supposed she would just have to banish the bones in her arm and regrow them, as she was sure the house elf hadn't healed them in the proper position anyway. She couldn't even move it.

And it had been her own love who'd done it to her. If someone had told her just a couple of days ago what was going to happen she would have given them a reference to the psych ward, which was really saying something coming from her.

There was something seriously wrong with Sirius. It was like he was losing control of his power. He used to get mad and use his power to avenge his anger. Now his power caused him to get mad. It was a really disconcerting and quite frightening notion. If he was capable of hurting _her_, what was he capable of doing to someone else?

Of course, that was assuming that he still loved her, which was seeming more and more like her own wishful thinking by the second.

Hadn't she known that something was wrong long before this? It was her own fault for coming back to him. Still, she knew that she didn't have the strength to leave even _now_. What was she supposed to do without him anyway? No, she would stay and try to make him better no matter what the cost. She would only admit defeat if he beat her to death.

The soft pop was alarming in the otherwise silent room, and Alex sat up from her pillows to see which idiotic house elf had thought to barge in on her. It was Walburga. She plopped back down into the pillows at that. This particular elf could be forgiven for ruining her moment of self pity.

"There is been a owl for Mistress," the house elf spoke softly, as if she'd picked up on the fact that she was an intruder in the silence.

Alex couldn't be bothered to sit up again, but she rolled over onto her side so she could see the elf. Well, see the top of her head anyway, as she lacked several inches until she was even as tall as the mattress. Walburga was holding an envelope over her head so Alex could reach it. She all but yanked it from the tiny fingers, her frustration setting itself loose even on the one creature who had thought to help her. Walburga didn't flinch away, only stepped back a bit further from the side of the bed so she could observe the mistress clearly as she read.

--

_Alex,_

_You didn't answer me when I tried to use the mirrors last night, like you said you would. Did you get home alright? If you got hurt I swear I'll kill you. And if you got home alright and just forgot to tell me I'll kill you anyway for making me worry. You better answer me back right this second! _

_Lots of love,_

_Draco_

_--_

Draco was such a darling little boy. Only he could think that death threats would be appropriate in such a situation. And only he could make such threats and still come off making Alex think he was absolutely the most adorable thing she'd ever seen. How could she have forgotten to tell him that she made it home alright, like she'd promised?

Perhaps because her mirror was in Sirius's bedroom? Which was so not the path she wanted her mind to traverse at the moment.

As she wasn't particularly keen on getting out of bed, she held out her hand expectantly, "Do you think you could fetch me a piece of parchment and a quill?"

Walburga only popped out for a few seconds before she popped back into the room and offered the items into Alex's waiting hand.

She was unavoidably reminded of the night before simply by trying to write a letter. Her wrist simply would not allow her to have such a mundane thing as proper penmanship. She was reduced to magically directing her quill, which still didn't leave much room for neatness. She apologized profusely for failing to let Draco know that she was perfectly okay and in one piece, her only excuse being that she and Sirius had been distracted (which wasn't exactly _entirely_ untrue). The fact remained, though, that Draco was going to realize this wasn't her handwriting. She tacked on a postscript explaining that she'd broken her wrist and it wasn't healed enough to allow for neat writing in the hopes that Draco would buy it and not automatically assume that someone was trying to impersonate her...In the end, she thought it best to add a second postscript promising to talk to him using the mirrors later that night just to be sure that he believed her.

Once she'd determined that there was nothing else she could do to prove the authenticity of her letter, she offered the final product to Walburga, "Would you send this reply for me?"

"Walburga is happy to, Mistress," the house elf accepted the parchment and stepped away from the bed in preparation to pop out of the room once more. It was then that Alex noticed the other envelope the elf was holding. The envelope was from the stationary that was quite distinctive to Sirius's cousin.

"What's that?" she gestured at the second missive before the elf had a chance to leave the room.

Walburga paused in her movement, "Master got an owl, but Master is being in the dining room."

Alex knew that the elves had strict instructions not to bother them when they were in the bedroom or the dining room unless it was an absolute emergency. Sirius had said that those were the two times he absolutely couldn't stand being interrupted: when they were alone and when they were eating. Alex had thought at the time that it was quite funny he'd put getting a meal on the same level as getting laid.

"I'll take it to him," she held out her hand. She was extremely curious what the young auror had to say to Sirius, since it was sure to have something to do with Madam Pomfrey. Alex might not have been willing to ask Sirius himself, as that would mean actually having to talk to him, but she was sure as hell willing to go through his mail for information. She ripped it open as soon as it touched her fingers.

--

_Have you heard about Madam Pomfrey? I don't know exactly what was going on to make her take such a risk as leaving Hogwarts, but as soon as she got back she was taken into custody. Her story was that she was kidnapped, of course. However, under Veristaserum they got her to admit that she'd gone of her own free will - not just this time, but that first time as well. In true Ministry fashion, they failed to ask __why__ she would go willingly, so maybe that's helpful? You're supposed to be the mastermind. __You__ figure it out! The trial is next Monday._

--

At that point, Alex decided that it really didn't matter whether or not she _wanted_ to face Sirius. The fact of the matter was she owed it to Madam Pomfrey to get her out of trouble. Fuck's sake, the woman had only done what she was supposed to do! She'd only saved their lives! She was going to get thrown into Azkaban for opening her heart to them.

Alex was halfway to the dining room by the time she'd allowed herself to fully process exactly what it was she was about to do. It took the rest of the walk to steel herself for the coming encounter with Sirius, and she still wasn't ready when she finally reached the door. She wanted to turn back. She didn't want to face him. She didn't think she _could_ face him.

The parchment grasped tightly between her fingers was enough to renew her determination to open the door.

The vile muggle was lying flat on his back in the middle of the dining room table, rubbing his neck and gasping for breath. Sirius was standing in the middle of the room staring at him.

He stopped mid-breath when he caught sight of her. His eyes bored hers, and she couldn't make herself look away. Their gazes were stuck on each other's, and Alex couldn't even begin to guess how long they just stood there staring. He was the one who finally made a move - heading very slowly and cautiously around the table in her direction. She watched him come towards her without moving away even though she was terrified inside. She was sure it was probably apparent on her face just how scared of this moment she actually was, since the hand he had warily extended in her direction fell limply back to his side. He stopped moving altogether when he was a few feet away from her.

Their staring contest would have gone on in silence forever if Alex hadn't held the letter up between them with a muttered and barely distinguishable, "Tonks."

He reached out to take it from her, but she couldn't help yanking her hand back as soon as his fingers brushed hers. The letter fluttered out of both their grasps. They both, of course, instinctively rushed to catch it. The resulting contact of their hands shocked Alex to her very core. Not in a metaphorical sense, but in a literal one. She actually felt a shock pass between them. It lasted all of three seconds before she thought to jerk her hand away from his again. She didn't try to catch the letter again, and Sirius ended up with it safely in his own possession.

He'd barely taken a second to glance it over before he snapped his fingers for a house elf, "Lock Rip in his room and make sure that Mr. Fletcher doesn't leave his either."

Alex didn't have time to even react to anything. Sirius grabbed her arms and swooped down to capture her mouth with his. It was really very pleasant. His mouth was hot and tasted like whiskey and something uniquely _him_. It would have been so easy to get lost in him...if only she hadn't been incredibly pissed off at him.

"Mmm," she attempted to protest, but his mouth had so completely possessed hers that it was no hope. She had to result to violence instead, biting down hard on his tongue and causing him to hiss and jerk away.

They stood facing each other silently, panting for much needed breath. She watched as he ran his tongue along his teeth, apparently checking for injury. When she looked back up his feverishly bright eyes were boring into her. He lifted his hand from his arm to run it down the side of her face in a feather soft caress, but she flinched away from his touch reflexively.

A sigh escaped him as he finally relented and removed his hands from her body completely, "I love you, Alex. I'm sorry for everything."

His voice held so much finality as he turned away from her that Alex couldn't find it in herself to let him go, "Where the hell are you going?"

"To help Madam Pomfrey," he didn't pause his step or even glance back at her.

Alex spluttered for a moment in indignation, "I'm going! Hold on a second! Sirius Black you _stop right there_!"

He spun on his heel, "You are _not_ going."

She didn't even bother to open her mouth in protest as he started walking away again. She stalked right after him, finally catching his arm as he was on his way out the door. She didn't really know what happened after that; she just remembered the apologetic look he shot her and then opening her eyes to the impeccable mural painted on their bedroom ceiling.

* * *

Madam Pomfrey's house was probably being watched. The simple square building looked abandoned and perfectly innocent from Sirius's point of view across the street, but he knew that it was probably being watched. Unless the person in question was the Boy-Who-Lived, it really wasn't feasible to put up and then maintain charms on an entire muggle neighborhood, so Sirius figured that he was reasonably safe from where he was currently standing. It was only once he stepped foot on Madam Pomfrey's property that he was likely to be surrounded by lethal hit wizards with a license to kill.

He stepped out of the shadows and into the fluorescent glow of a streetlight with his head held high and his hands hooked in the pockets of his faded jeans. Nothing happened.

If anyone _was_ watching him they were probably focused in on his easy smile as he stepped off the curb and walked across the street. No indication of the imminent danger he was in could be seen in the confident look on his face or in his casual gait. It was just as well, since nothing actually happened when he stepped from the pavement onto the unkempt grass of Madam Pomfrey's yard. Not that he had expected to be flayed alive in the middle of a muggle suburb - the Ministry would have too much trouble patching up something like that. He continued up the walk a bit faster, blowing the door off the hinges when he reached it. It wouldn't matter in a few minutes anyway.

The stopped as soon as he was through the doorway and turned back around to place a Caterwauling Charm on the yard. It simply wouldn't do to be caught off guard, would it?

A layer of dust was covering everything inside the house - a sure sign of Madam Pomfrey's nearly year-round commitment at work - but there were numerous footprints littering the floor and handprints on everything the Ministry had thought to search. Sirius stood there for a moment, trying to decide where a single witch would keep anything important to her. If he was something of sentimental value, where would he be hiding...

"_Accio_," he gave in and cast the Summoning Charm, his intention being anything of sentimental value. It was a broad criterion and he was pretty sure that half the contents of the house came flying at him. He froze them in midair before anything could hit him.

He picked his way through the portraits and papers quickly, taking only what he thought Poppy would really truly be upset to lose. Among the chosen items were a portrait that appeared to be her as a young girl with her family, several photo albums full of pictures from her Hogwarts days, a newspaper article announcing her appointment to Hogwarts, and a box filled with letter upon letter. He conjured a trunk to throw everything into as he picked it out, and he'd barely thrown in the last thing when a shriek the likes of which he'd never heard before began all around him. He quickly slammed the trunk shut and shrunk it enough to fit in his pocket. If he'd missed anything important Madam Pomfrey would just have to deal with it.

The front yard was absolutely teeming with hit wizards. Luckily for Sirius, a good deal of them were preoccupied with keeping the muggles away from the scene. The Caterwauling Charm had the dual purposes of alerting Sirius when the hit wizards stepped onto the property and of causing a distraction by way of curious neighborhood muggles.

He took a deep breath before he created the fire. Fiendfyre. Extremely dangerous. Very fun, if anyone had wanted to know Sirius's opinion. It was a cursed fire that would literally destroy anything it came into contact with. Of course the fun part would come in when the fire started forming animals - snakes, dragons, eagles, and all sorts of fun things - that would go after anyone he told them to. It was certainly going to get the Ministry's attention.

"_Morsmordre_," that, too, would certainly get the attention of the Ministry. Sirius watched the skull form with a detached gaze. It took more out of him than he'd thought it would, and it crossed his mind that maybe he should have used a wand instead of channeling something so dark through his very fingertips. It was the first time he'd ever cast the Dark Mark, and he sure as hell hoped it would be the last, but he couldn't allow it to get to him right now. He couldn't be distracted by it when its sole purpose was to distract the Ministry lackies in the yard.

He stepped out of the house calmly as the flames started to take hold, bracing himself for the kind of death and destruction he hadn't been a part of for years. They were all a part of the corrupt Ministry. In all likelihood, some of them were death eaters. They would gladly take him down without a second thought. Actually, upon second thought, they would probably incapacitate him, torture him for information, make a public spectacle out of him, and then feed him to the dementors. These were the people who had pinned him with killing his best friend. They would take Alex, too, if given half a chance. They would string her up and publicly flog her for no other reason than that she loved him.

The goons were all staring at the Dark Mark as if they'd been struck dumb. The few who were death eaters were easy to tell apart from the rest, as their faces registered shock rather than sheer terror. He opened by hitting one of them with an Entrail-Expelling Curse. The man's scream was almost as bad as the Caterwauling Charm. Most of the hit wizards turned to look at the dying man. As for the ones who were smart enough to focus their attention on Sirius, he hit as many of them as possible with finger-removing jinxes. They were so used to having their wands in hand that most of them weren't adept enough at wandless magic to be much good, or so he hoped.

Sirius propelled himself off of the stoop and into the flowerbed beside it as half a dozen curses suddenly flew his way. He quickly scrambled to take cover, making sure that his various protection charms and shields were all still in working order. He fired a succession of curses from his place under the bushes, managing to take down two of the wizards. He quickly teleported himself away from the target spot as the returning curses were fired his way.

"_Sectumsempra_!" he fired at the back of one of the men he'd just reappeared behind, quickly followed by another curse for someone else, "_Reducto_!"

Two more men went down at that, but all the rest of their attention had been drawn right back to Sirius. They didn't waste any time wondering how he'd gone from the bushes to the sidewalk, and he found himself on the receiving end of all of their wands. He could literally feel his shield tremble and strain from the force of the blows. He put all of his effort into keeping it up, as he was sure there were half a dozen extremely nasty curses that he wouldn't enjoy being hit with.

It was only the blast of green light that managed to break through his protections.

He'd been hit with it enough times by now to know what it was going to feel like, but the impact of the Killing Curse on his body wasn't something that he could ever really be prepared for. He arched backwards through the air, a scream already ripped from his throat before he even hit the ground. He knew it only lasted a few seconds, but it always felt like it lasted hours. This time was no exception. And when it was over there were a few seconds when he didn't feel like he'd ever be able to move again.

Of course, the continued vibrations of his shield trying to withstand the onslaught of curse after curse was enough to encourage him to move no matter how badly it hurt. Good thing, too, since some smartass auror had realized how much _Avada Kedavra_ had slowed him down. He only just barely managed to dodge the next one, and that was followed by yet another. The next time around it was sheer luck that let him evade three.

Great, now he was going to get caught.

An enormous dragon rose from the remains of Madam Pomfrey's house just to prove him wrong. The fire! Merlin, he'd never in his entire life been so glad to have set something on fire. A chorus of "_Aguamenti_!" and any number of other extinguishing spells rose up from the hit wizards. With hardly any effect. The curse had been working for far too long already.

Sirius rose onto shaky legs, exuding much more confidence than he actually felt, "Fiendfyre, boys!" He laughed as he watched the fiery creatures consume everything in their paths. "Any survivors should, in future, remember not to fuck it up when I want to kidnap someone!"

Shimmering, glittering light erupted from his fingertips to leave his last message.

He was quite sure that he'd almost managed to duplicate the exact tone of maniacal laughter he'd let loose oh so many years ago...the last time he'd faced off with this crowd.

* * *

Sirius Black had _no idea_ what was in store for him when he walked through that door! He was dead! No! He was _worse_ than dead!

The _nerve_ of that man. How dare he just...just _leave her behind_ like that! Madam Pomfrey was as much Alex's friend as she was Sirius's. If not more so! Alex had just as much - if not more! - of a right as Sirius to help get the mediwitch out of trouble!

And what was he even going to _do_ anyway? Walk up to the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's office door and give a polite knock? Maybe if he asked nicely they would just _let_ Poppy go!

Sirius _needed_ Alex! He had to have someone to watch his back or else he'd get himself killed.

It was on that last note that the house elves started swarming around her. They were all in the biggest panic she'd ever seen them in. Honestly, they were acting like there was a worse crisis than the time Sirius had misplaced a pair of shoes. It was the murmuring about Master that finally clued her in to the nature of their panic.

She was out the door quicker than she'd ever moved before...furniture, doorways, and house elves scattering every which way as she plowed right through them.

He was sprawled out almost grotesquely on the ground like he'd not even bothered to catch himself when he'd teleported in. House elves were milling around him in large number. Walburga was leading them, and she was the only one Alex didn't blast out of the way in her haste to make it to his side. It was all too reminiscent of only several days before when it had been a filthy floor he'd been lying on.

She skidded to a stop on her knees beside him, grabbing his hand and fighting back tears in the process, "Sirius..."

"Alex," he interrupted her with the tiniest of smiles, "I love you."

And then his eyelids fluttered closed, hiding the shimmering gray eyes from the world once more.

* * *

A/N: You've no idea how much I was tempted to stop when Alex woke up! I'm glad I decided to make everyone wait a little longer so I could add the last bit, though, as it really is a much more appropriate ending for this chapter.

I've started periodically posting news on my profile page. It'll just be a way to keep everyone up-to-date on how the next chapter is coming along and how soon or how late I plan on releasing it.

Also, I'm in the market for a beta reader. I wanted to give the opportunity to my reviewers before anyone else, since if anyone deserves to see the chapters early it's you guys! The job won't be too hard. I would just like someone to read through and point out minor errors. I tend to get in a hurry to get everything out when I'm writing, and so I'll forget to add a word here or add an -ing to the end of a word there. This particular chapter was ready two days before I actually released it because I had to have time to read back through it and fix as many of those errors as possible, plus I have a feeling there are still a few of them in each chapter because fresh eyes always catch more.

Mostly, though, the job would entail kicking my ass until I finally get it in gear and write something. If I get in a rut I sometimes need someone to yell at me! If you're interested you can send me a private message or mention it at the end of a review or whatever way works for you.


End file.
